Answering a question of member committee Mian Abdul Mannan, the secretary ETPB informed the panel that Lieutenant General Zulfiqar Ali Khan (retd) was chairman ETPB who purchased defense saving certificates. The officials said that under Zulfiqar, ETPB purchased defense saving certificates, worth Rs 2.48 billion, from low rating banks.
The official said that the matter is in the court, wherein Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) is also a party. The panel directed the officials concerned to provide the details of all the pending cases of the ETPB in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) within 30 days.
According to the audit brief presented before the meeting, the ETPB made a hefty investment of Rs 2.488 billion in saving schemes of various commercial banks in total violation of rules laid down by the government.
The audit officials raised objections to the selection of banks for investment purposes which needed to fulfill a certain criterion. For the sake of safety and security of deposits, banks taking a deposit should have long-term 'A' ratings on the official website of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Similarly, in case the total working balance exceeds Rs 10 million, the selection of banks as well as the terms of deposits under the policy will be approved by the board of directors or governing body concerned on the basis of competitive bids from at least three independent banks. Moreover, in cases where total working balance of an enterprise exceeds Rs 10 million, not more than 50 per cent of such balance should be kept in one bank. However, none of these conditions were met when the ETPB made investment of the said amount in various banks, the audit officials said.
The committee was informed that the ETPB has invested in different commercial banks and National Savings Schemes under term deposit receipts and defense savings certificates.
The auditor general raised the objections over the investment made in banks saying that the means adopted for investment were not clear and it was also unclear whether it was made in transparent manners after obtaining bids from at least three independent banks and terms of deposits were approved by the ETPB directors or not.
According to the audit officials, the Crescent Standard Investment Bank, in which an investment of Rs 132 million was made, had already defaulted on its payments.
The panel also discussed the issue of assets Pakistan got on the time of the Partition. The panel was informed by the audit officials that unclaimed 281.4 kilograms gold and 1,750.6 kilograms silver were with the State Bank of Pakistan.
Audit officials said that this matter was revealed in 2004 when there was no 18th constitutional amendment. The panel said that this property was federal asset and the government should not transfer it to the provinces. The proposal of the PAC was also supported by the officials of the Ministry of Finance.