KABUL - In a letter addressed to the Attorney General's Office (AGO), President Ashraf Ghani's suspended legal advisor Abdul Ali Mohammadi allegedly instructed the legal body to investigate the case of the six Urban Development Ministry officials – a move deemed by legal experts to be outside the parameters of his authority.
According to the document, Mohammadi also reportedly assigned a team to follow up the case, another move beyond his authority.
The urban development officials were arrested early June at the Afghan border with Tajikistan when they were trying to flee the country.
They were accused of taking bribes in exchange for allotting houses, providing apartments to high-ranking government officials and constructing below-standard apartments.
This latest document allegedly signed by Mohammadi has led to strong criticism among legal experts who say that according to the law, an advisor may not instruct a judicial body – especially the AGO – to conduct an investigation into a case.
In addition they said Mohammadi did not have the authority to assign a task team to probe a case.
Mohammad Sabir Insan Dost, a professor of law, said: "Mohammadi is not in a position to make decisions. He is clearly an advisor and everything he wants to do must be sanctioned by the president otherwise it is unlawful."
Meanwhile, the team assigned by Ghani to investigate Mohammadi's involvement in the Smart City project has started its work.
Hussain Fakhri, a member of the task team, said: "We have formally started our work and we have sent letters to relevant government organizations and we expect them to cooperate with us in this regard, based on the president's decree."
He said however that the team could not say when they expected to complete their investigation.
Meanwhile a number of MPs on Sunday welcomed Ghani's move to suspend Mohammadi and they urged government to take action against other officials involved in the Smart City project.
Sayed Ikram, an MP, said: "The team must also determine who else was involved in this case."
Mohammadi was suspended recently over the controversial Smart City housing agreement he allegedly facilitated between convicted bank defaulter Khalil Frozi and the ministry of urban development. Last week he became embroiled in yet another scandal when a document emerged stating he had instructed the ministry of finance to order all government offices to purchase gas from Frozi's company Gas Group. In that document he allegedly stated that the money made would go towards paying off Frozi's debt with the Kabul Bank.
Frozi, who was the former CEO of Kabul Bank, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last November after failing to repay loans, which helped lead to the bank's collapse in 2010. (Tolonews)