Investigators probing the Islamabad Cooperative Housing Society (ICHS) scandal have uncovered what is being described as one of Pakistan’s largest alleged housing scam cases, involving thousands of plot files issued without sufficient land availability.
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According to officials familiar with the inquiry, the housing society had the approved capacity and land bank for nearly 6,000 plot files under its sanctioned layout plan. However, former officials and alleged facilitators are accused of issuing around 42,000 files, creating a massive gap between available land and allocated plots.
Authorities say nearly 36,000 of those files have so far been identified as excess, illegal or unsupported by available land, raising concerns of long-term fraud, administrative misconduct and misuse of authority.
Investigators allege that citizens were sold plot files for land that either did not exist, lacked legal approvals or was never properly documented. Officials also reported that records for thousands of fully paid or allegedly allotted files are either incomplete or entirely missing.
Sources linked to the inquiry claim the discrepancy between the society’s land bank and the number of issued files suggests a systematic operation involving fake, duplicate and excess files sold to the public, potentially collecting billions of rupees.
So far, more than Rs16 billion in financial irregularities have been identified during the investigation, though authorities believe the figure may increase significantly as additional financial records and transactions are examined.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has confirmed the arrest of seven suspects linked to the case, including former members of the management committee and individuals associated with a land dealing company.
Among those arrested are former secretary general Mehdi Khan Shakir, former treasurer Malik Muhammad Nawaz, former executive member Muhammad Arshad, and four individuals connected to a land dealing firm.
An accountability court in Islamabad has granted NAB seven-day physical remand of the accused to facilitate further investigation, evidence recovery and financial tracing.
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Officials say the probe may expand further as investigators continue examining the roles of other individuals linked to society management, land dealings and financial operations.