Jahangir Siddiqui & Co.

JS Group, also known as Jahangir Siddiqui Group, is one of the biggest financial services provider of Pakistan, as well as the second largest shareholder of EFU Insurance. It is headquartered in Karachi, with important district offices in Lahore and Islamabad.

The investment branch of JS Group and the Pakistan arm of American Express were merged to form JS Bank Limited.

JS Air

JS Group includes a charter airline branch called JS Air (also known as JS Charter), which was set up in 2005 and operates regional low-passenger volume corporate flights, mostly serving the oil and gas industry. Between 2006 and late 2007, JS Air set up a joint venture with Airblue, the second largest airline in Pakistan, marking the nation's first ever airline joint-venture. Ultimately, the cooperation was stopped as it proved to be unsuccessfull. Currently, JS Air only operates one single airplane, a 19-passenger Beech 1900C turboprop aircraft.

On 28 March 2011, JS Air have asked relevant authority that their operating license be withdrawn, their website has also shut down.

JS Air disaster

Main article: 2010 Karachi Beechcraft 1900 crash

On 5 November 2010, a JS Air Beechcraft 1900 carrying staff of Italian oil company Eni crashed one minute after takeoff from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, killing all 21 passengers and crew on board. The pilot had reported engine troubles, before the aircraft went down near a military depot in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, a suburb of Karachi. The Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan gave a technical fault as most probale cause for the disaster.

Land grabbing case

In December 2010 prominent members of the JS group including the CEO Jahangir Siddiqui were placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) for alleged land grabbing in Karachi. The names of Jahangir Siddiqui’s wife, Mehwish Siddiqui, his son, Ali Jahangir Siddiqui, and his brother Zahid Siddiqui had also been placed on the ECL, which alleged that Jahangir Siddiqui had illegally occupied a plot of 1,000 square yards in Karachi in connivance with the owner of an estate agency, using forged documents.

False Allegations

Jahangir Siddiqui an innovative businessman; who was the first person to introduce Corporate Membership at KSE; he also collaborated with the world’s top stock trading firm to partner him in setting up the first corporate member of the Karachi Stock Exchange. A politically motivated propaganda was created through an amateur effort to intimidate; Mr. Siddiqui to agree to unlawful demands of various politically connected people, by alleging him of illegal occupation of land. The inquiry confirmed that there is no other property in possession of Mr. Siddiqui that is subject to dispute.

In January 2010, Siddiqui sued a group of individuals including the Anti-Corruption Establishment director and a member of EDO Revenue for defamation, indicating that the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee had evaluated land-grabbing claims in 2001 and found the ownership of the property legal. The Sindh High Court issued notices to the defendants. Despite the established fact that said land has been purchased by his wife and was transferred to her son, the defendants lodged bogus case against Mr. Siddiqui. Defendants have been restrained from media attack and were summoned to appear before the court on January 5, 2011. The court issued a restraining order preventing the defendants from further publication of the allegations pending settlement of the matter. In an editorial, the Pakistan Observer characterized the prior publications as a "character assassination campaign" against Siddiqui.

Unauthorised related party transactions

In 2007, Pakistan's regulatory body, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), found Jahangir Siddiqui & Company Limited guilty of undertaking investments in associated parties without disclosure or informing of shareholders in the company. The shareholders of the Company on April 29, 2006 passed a resolution to make investments of Rs.150 million in the related parties and associated companies of Network Microfinance Bank Limited (NMFBL) and Jahangir Siddiqui Infocom Limited (JSIL) (both controlled bt the JS Group). According to the report, the Company had failed to comply with the requirement of the Notification by non-providing the required information to its shareholders in the general meetings of the Company held on September 29, 2007 and November 24, 2007.

Allegations of Fraud and Insider Trading

In January 2011, a Srilankan Newspaper, the Sunday Leader, gained access to an investigation report by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The report is said to have uncovered fraud and insider trading by JS Group Companies. Specifically, JS Global Capital Limited was found to finance the insider trading in a company called Azgard Nine Limited, which 6 months earlier had remitted 23.758 million Euros outside Pakistan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) of Pakistan uncovered that most of the transactions of Azgard Nine Limited were made by JS Global, JS Group companies, JS Group mutual funds (managed by JS investments), sponsors/directors of Azgard Nine Limited, Live Securities and Aziz Fidahussein brokerage house and his family members.

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) uncovered that JS Global Capital was the financier of the shares, and JS Global clients were the financees. 11 JS Group companies where involved, eight clients the JS Group and and four individuals with personal relationships to Jahangir Siddiqui and were involved in the insider trading; and in addition Ali Jahangir Siddiqui ( Jahangir Siddiqui’s son) was stated to be a common director in both Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Limited and Azgard Nine Limited and a Member of Audit Committee and Member of Finance Committee of Azgard Nine Limited.

External links

• Official website
• JS Air website
• JS Group website on JS Air