FAISALABAD/LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a major investigation into an alleged Rs12 billion electricity fraud, registering a case against four former chief executive officers of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), the chief executive and five directors of two local industrial companies for allegedly causing massive losses to the national exchequer through fraudulent power transactions.
According to the FIA, two former FESCO chief executives—Khurshid Alam and Ahmad Saeed Khan—have been arrested, while one of the directors of the industrial companies was detained at Lahore Airport. A local court has granted the FIA five-day physical remand of the two former FESCO officials for further investigation.
The remaining accused have been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) to prevent them from leaving the country while the investigation continues.
The case has been registered as FIR No. 35/2026 at the FIA Composite Circle Faisalabad under Section 5(2)/47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with multiple provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code, including Sections 34, 109, 409, 419, 420, 467, 468, and 471.
The FIR names former FESCO chief executives Ahmad Saeed Akhtar, Tanveer Safdar Cheema, Khurshid Alam, and Rashid Aslam, along with the chief executive and five directors of two Faisalabad-based industrial companies.
According to investigators, the accused allegedly colluded between 2007 and 2015 to manipulate electricity purchase and supply arrangements, enabling the companies to secure unlawful financial gains while causing an estimated Rs12 billion loss to the public treasury.
The FIA alleges that one of the companies sold electricity to FESCO at rates higher than those approved by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), while both companies simultaneously received electricity from FESCO as bulk power consumers at subsidised tariffs.
Investigators further claim that one company unlawfully benefited from concessional electricity tariffs, while the other allegedly obtained subsidised natural gas from Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) by presenting itself as a captive power plant. The company is also accused of misrepresenting itself before the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) as a small power producer using allegedly misleading documentation.
The FIA said investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of the alleged fraud and identify any additional individuals involved in the scam.
