FIA opens case against Unity Foods over alleged funds misuse

Business Recorder reported that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has lodged a criminal case against the former leadership of Unity Foods, which is listed on the PSX. The alleged gap of roughly Rs44.7 billion separates the company's reported financial statements from its internal records. The case was registered on August 29 in Karachi by the agency's Corporate Crime Circle, after an SECP probe flagged possible criminal offences involving company funds, financial reporting and inventory.

Of the Rs3.75 billion the company raised from shareholders through a rights issue, about Rs2.87 billion is alleged to have been diverted from the uses stated in the offer documents. A further Rs5.318 billion is alleged to have been lent from company funds to the former CEO's mother. Separately, a subsidiary is said to have advanced Rs2.6 billion to a pair of parties that remain unnamed.

SECP Chairman Kabir Ahmed Sidhu said the regulator will protect investor money in listed companies and push for transparent financial reporting. He stressed that safeguarding minority shareholders is a core duty of the SECP and that funds raised from investors must be used only for disclosed purposes. The company was previously called Taha Spinning Limited, a textile business that later moved into edible oil extraction and refining.