(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) (Pajhwok): The second Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC) court on Sunday upheld the first court judgment in the case of prominent businessman Abdul Ghafar Dawi with some concession in his jail term.
Abdul Ghafar Dawi, a former stakeholder of Kabul Bank and owner of Dawi Oil Company, his deputy Mohammad Asghar Gheyasi and former administrative chief of the Ministry of Transport, Abdur Razaq Zalali, appeared along with their defense lawyers on the day two of their public hearing by the ACJC court on Sunday.
Dawi was detained in March this year and sentenced to nine years and as many months in jail in August by the ACJC first court with Gheyasi. Zalali was jailed for five years and seven months.
At today's hearing, Sultana Khak Nizhad, the prosecutor of the appellate court, presented details of the case to the jury.
She said Abdul Ghafar Dawi obtained fuel supply contract of the state-run Ariana Airlines in collusion with some of Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) officials in 2006 and the company monopolized the contract until 2013.
She said the accused had also obtained seven acres of land, bypassing all legal procedures. Dawi also offered aviation fuel to Ariana Airlines without signing a contract for a year and as result the government suffered $3 million, Nizshad said.
She said Dawi owed $16.1 million to the Kabul Bank under names of 17 different companies by forging documents between 2006 and 2007.
Besides not clearing his dues, Dawi also did not pay $19 million interest to the bank, she said.
Nizhad added Dawi alongside his deputy inflicted millions of US dollars of losses to Afghan Global and Maihan Petroleum private companies due to fraud.
However, Musa Friwar, the defense lawyer for Dawi, rejected her allegations and said: 'The prosecutor displayed the case nonprofessionally and based on double standards, most of these allegations are sub judice in the special Kabul Bank tribunal, processing one case simultaneously in two courts is against the law.'
Farid Ahmad Arabzai, defense lawyer for Abdur Razaq Zalali, also said no signatures of Zalali existed on any documents based on which he had been accused of fraud and collusion.
He said the documents also carried signatures of other senior officials and the contract document on which Zalali was awarded imprisonment in the first court had not been signed by him.
Anisa Rasouli, head of the ACJC appellate court, announced the decision of the judicial delegation in the case. However, the decision granted some concession to the accused in their previous jail sentences.
Rasouli said: 'Dawi is sentenced to six years and eight months in jail for fraud, forgery and long-standing debts, and his deputy Mohammad Asghar Gheyasi is sentenced to five years and eight months in jail for complicity and fined 6,000 afghanis.'
'Abdur Razaq Zalali is also sentenced to five years and six months in jail for misusing his authority in fuel contracts between Dawi Oil Company and Aryana Airlines as well offering land without a bidding process,' she said.
Rasouli said Abdul Ghafar Dawi and Mohammad Asghar Gheyasi were also responsible to pay $21.35 million in compensation to the national flag carrier for losses and interest to the Kabul Bank and $12.43 million in bank loan.
The court head said their verdict was not final and could be challenged in the third (the final) ACJC court.
mds/ma
MENAFN0511201701740000ID1096042731
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.