ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has secured 17-year rigorous imprisonment for five convicted officials in the Rs104.75 million IESCO bribery case, with a special court also ordering confiscation of the recovered amount in favour of the national exchequer. An FIA official told media on Sunday that the case originated from a successful raid conducted by the FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Islamabad on August 30, 2024, during which three IESCO Divisional Accounts Officers and two audit officers were arrested red-handed. The official said Rs104.75 million was recovered from the accused, which was allegedly being paid as a bribe to external audit officers in return for preparing favourable audit reports covering the period from 2019 to 2024. Following the raid, FIR No. 153/2024 was registered under Sections 161, 162, 163 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. On July 17, 2026, Special Judge Central Rawalpindi Abdul Rehman Muhammad Arif, after concluding the trial, sentenced Zeeshan Ali Akbar, Nazar Hussain, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Jahangir Ahmed and Saqib Zaheer to 17 years’ rigorous imprisonment each. DNA
