The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday arrested Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Zafar Hijazi after Special Judge Central Tahir Mehmood's cancelled his bail.
Hijazi had filed for a pre-arrest bail as per Section 498 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan. The SECP chief’s counsel, Sheikh Ansar, cited medical grounds as the basis for the request.
A lower court on July 17 granted a five-day pre-arrest bail to Hijazi against two surety bonds worth Rs250,000 each.
An FIA inquiry team found Hijazi guilty of tampering the records of companies owned by the Sharif family and recommended registering a First Information Report (FIR) against him.
The team submitted a 28-page inquiry report to the Supreme Court (SC) on July 9, in which it endorsed the stance of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the offshore assets of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in connection with the Panamagate case.
Hijazi's lawyer had argued in court that SECP staffers did not tamper records of Chaudhry Sugar Mills under duress.
He stated that both SECP officers named in the case acted on their own, adding that officer Maheen Fatima's statement to the court did not make any mention of duress.
"Abid Hussain is a director and does not need any directives," Hijazi's lawyer said. "No such evidence has been brought forward that proves Hijazi was involved in the record tampering."
