The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has taken notice of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) controversial VVIP flight operations and iPad scam.
PAC Chairman, Noor Alam Khan, presided over a session in which the VVIP flight operations for various important people as well as a scam involving the renting of 350 iPads for an airplane of the national flag carrier in 2016 were discussed at length.
When he questioned PIA’s management about the VVIP passengers who had taken the chartered flights, the CEO of PIA appeared to be unaware of them. This enraged Khan, who then asked for the details of the passengers in question.
Additionally, the audit officers informed the committee about PIA renting 350 iPads for 1.5 years in 2016, which had caused the national treasury a loss of Rs. 99 million, and the Chairman asked which country the iPads have been rented out in.
PIA’s officials explained that the case is under investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). They added that a case against seven suspects is underway while three more have been arrested and three have been bailed out.
Prior to this, the FIA Corporate Crime Circle had investigated PIA’s iPad scam last November and announced that the accused had signed contracts with foreign firms for renting out 350 iPads for in-flight entertainment for the airline’s Business class.
The FIA revealed that the accused had allegedly illegally acquired the iPads for the Boeing 777 aircraft even though these airplanes do not have cell phone data or Wi-Fi service, and this had cost the national treasury Rs. 99 million.
The contracts were discovered during a special audit of the airline’s accounts carried out on the orders of the Supreme Court.
