Former PIA employees, including two Pilots, convicted in fake degrees case
Four former employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), including two pilots and a stewardess, have admitted to using forged degrees to secure employment or promotions within the national airline, according to court documents.
The individuals had already been dismissed or had retired when the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) initiated action against them in 2022, following an audit that uncovered 457 PIA employees who had obtained jobs based on fake degrees.
Initially, the accused denied the charges when they sought pre-arrest bail from a special court, which was granted. However, after being formally indicted, they changed their stance, pleaded guilty, and expressed a desire to make confessional statements.
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Judge Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh informed the accused that they were "not obligated to make a confessional statement," and warned that any such statement could be used against them, potentially leading to a conviction. He granted them 30 minutes to reconsider their decision and allowed them to sit in a corner of the courtroom to reflect. Afterward, they chose to proceed with their confessions.
In her statement, Nazia Naheed, a former air hostess from Karachi, admitted to submitting a fake BA degree to secure a promotion. She was appointed on July 5, 2001, under a five-year contract, but was terminated on April 26, 2014, after the forged degree was discovered during a scrutiny process. She explained that she was unemployed following her husband's death in a road accident.
Mohsin Ali, a former co-pilot, confessed to using a fake BA degree for his appointment in 2006, despite the job only requiring an intermediate qualification. He was dismissed in 2014 after his degree was found to be forged.
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Arif Tarar, who began his career in PIA as a peon in 1979, admitted to using a fake FA degree to secure a promotion to a data entry operator position. He retired in 2018 after 39 years of service, but the audit revealed his degree was fake, leading to his involvement in the FIA's investigation.
Kashan Aijaz Dodhy, a former cadet pilot from Karachi, confessed to using a fake BSc degree when he was appointed on November 13, 1995, although the position only required an FSc qualification. His forged degree was discovered during the verification process, and he was dismissed from PIA in 2019.
All four individuals expressed regret for their actions and apologized, leaving themselves at the court's mercy.
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Following their confessions, Judge Sheikh convicted all four of the accused, sentencing them to imprisonment "till the rising of the court" and imposing fines of varying amounts.
Source: Dawn