Karachi court allows detention of Unity Foods CEO in alleged embezzlement case — Dawn
The Sindh High Court in Karachi, Pakistan, suspended a magistrate’s order releasing Unity Foods Limited Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Farrukh Amin Ghodil in a case involving alleged embezzlement of funds. The court allowed Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take him into custody for questioning and investigative actions, Dawn reports.
At the same time, the court was informed that Ghodil had obtained interim pre-arrest bail until September 14. The court ruled that after the magistrate’s decision was suspended, any further bail order in this case would have no legal effect.
Magistrate’s order suspended
On August 30, a judicial magistrate in Karachi East released Ghodil after rejecting the FIA’s request to keep him in custody for further questioning and investigation. Other suspects — Jalees Edhi, Aamir Shehzad, Safdar Sajjad, and Abdul Majeed Ghaiani — were remanded into FIA custody.
Additional Prosecutor General Mohsin Shahwani challenged the magistrate’s decision. He stated that the magistrate had incorrectly applied an April order of the Sindh High Court that barred authorities from taking coercive measures against Ghodil. According to the prosecutor, that order concerned a separate investigation under the anti-money laundering law and was unrelated to this case.
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High Court’s position
A single-judge bench headed by Justice Miran Muhammad Shah noted that the magistrate was required to urgently consider only the request for custody, without interfering in the course of the investigation. The court indicated that the magistrate could either grant or reject the request, but not make any other decisions.
The High Court suspended the challenged order until September 30, notified Ghodil of a hearing on that date, and allowed the FIA investigating officer to detain him for questioning and investigation. The FIA opened the case against Ghodil and other company officials following a complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
According to the FIR, Ghodil allegedly misappropriated 5.318 million Pakistani rupees in entrusted funds for the benefit of his mother, Fehmida Amin, under the guise of a loan. The regulator’s complaint also referred to a discrepancy of approximately 44.7 billion rupees between Unity Foods’ published financial statements and internal SAP records.
