FIA registers case against Hussain Haqqani over financial irregularities

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a case against former diplomat Hussain Haqqani for allegedly embezzling secret funds and misusing his authority during his stint as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.  

Haqqani, who is at the center of the Memogate scandal, has been booked under Section 3, 4, 409, and 109 of Pakistan Penal Code by the agency’s anti-corruption circle.

The registration of a case against the former envoy is likely to help the government secure his arrest through Interpol.

Earlier, the FIA had sent a request to Interpol for arresting Haqqani in the wake of the issuance of his arrest warrants by the Supreme Court hearing the Memogate case.

The court had directed him to appear before it but he failed to show up after which it issued warrants for his arrest.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, who was heading a three-judge bench, ordered that Haqqani should be brought back to Pakistan through Interpol.

In 2012, a judicial body had investigated the Memogate scandal and submitted its report to the apex court, holding Haqqani guilty of authoring the explosive memo and termed his acts disloyalty to the country.

Haqqani is alleged to have written a memo to Adm. Mike Mullen, the top US military officer at the time, offering greater government cooperation in return for helping avert possible dismissal of the civilian government in the wake of the May 2 raid which led to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.