World

Diversion Programs More Effective Than the Normal Criminal Justice Court Process

Published

3 years ago

April 14, 2022

Most states in America recognize that low-level offenses committed by first-time offenders do not necessarily need to go through the normal criminal case process. Though effective in serving some purposes like getting the bad guys off the streets, the ordinary criminal justice process does not effectively rehabilitate offenders or promote behavioral changes.

Diversion programs offer first-time, low-level offenders an opportunity to learn from their mistakes without going through the regular legal process. As a result, this may not be effective in promoting behavioral change.

How Does a Diversion Program Work?

A diversion program is an alternative to the regular criminal legal process for some offenses. The program was created by a state’s legislative arm and signed into law. These laws identify the characteristic of a crime and the offender that qualify for a diversion. Depending on the diversion system, a defendant’s case may be diverted early into the case and does not require the defendant to take a plea.

Other systems require the defendant to plead guilty to the charge, but the court defers the sentence until the defendant completes the diversion program. Upon completion of the diversion program, which can last for six months to a year, the court dismisses the case, and it does not show in your records. However, the arrest record will remain, but you can have it deleted later. If the offender does not complete the diversion program, the case returns to court.

Diversion Programs Effectiveness

According to the ACLU, the diversion program seeks to identify the underlying problems leading to a crime. This makes diversion programs more effective in reducing recidivism and improving the community’s safety in the long term.

To the victims, diversion programs ensure that they get financial restitution for their losses. Sometimes they may receive a written apology from the offender, which can help mend relationships. They also get to participate in the restorative justice system by voicing their views which is critical in assisting them to know that they get justice. To the offender, diversion helps ensure that they avoid getting a criminal record, make amends with the victim, and help them learn from their mistakes and through the program helping them avoid similar offenses in the future.

Diversion programs also ensure that fewer people go through the normal criminal justice system, easing the system’s burden and correctional facilities. According to ACUL, if prosecutors used diversion programs more, the population in America’s correctional facilities would reduce by approximately 10 percent, translating into significant savings in the government.

Crimes That Qualify for Diversion Programs

Diversion programs laws define the characteristic of offenses and offenders that qualify for diversion. These criminal charges include minor misdemeanor offenses, possession of certain drugs, first-time DUI offenders, petty theft, minor assaults, and domestic violence qualify for diversion in most states.

Diversion programs are also effective in rehabilitating offenders with underlying mental illnesses. According to the center for prison reform, diversion programs for mentally ill offenders resulted in an 84 percent drop in the rearrests likelihood for offenders.

World

TRG Chairman Khaishgi and CEO Aslam implicated in $150 million fraud

Published

1 week ago

June 23, 2025

Jenny Jackson

In a scathing 52-page decision, the Sindh High Court has found that TRG Pakistan’s management was acting fraudulently and that Bermuda-based Greentree Holdings historic and prospective purchase of TRG shares were illegal, fraudulent and oppressive.

The Sindh High Court has further directed TRGP to immediately hold board elections that have been overdue and illegally withheld by the existing board since January 14, 2025.

In the landmark ruling, the Sindh High Court has blocked the attempted takeover of TRG Pakistan Limited by Greentree Holdings, declaring that the shares acquired by Greentree, nearly 30% of TRG’s stock, were unlawfully financed using TRG’s funds in violation of Section 86(2) of the Companies Act 2017.

“Having concluded that the affairs of TRGP are being conducted in an unlawful and fraudulent manner and in a manner oppressive to members such as the Petitioner (Zia Chishti), the case falls for corrective orders under sub-section (2) of section 286 of the Companies Act,” Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry concluded.

The case was brought by TRGP former CEO and founder Pakistani-American technology entrepreneur Zia Chishti against TRG Pakistan, its associate TRG International and TRG International’s wholly-owned shell company Greentree Limited. In addition, the case named AKD Securities for managing Greentree’s illegal tender offer as well as various regulators requiring that they act to perform their regulatory duties.

The case centred around the dispute that shell company Greentree Limited was fraudulently using TRG Pakistan’s own funds to purchase TRG Pakistan’s shares in order to give control to Zia Chishti’s former partners Mohammed Khaishgi, Hasnain Aslam and Pinebridge Investments.

According to the case facts, the Chairman of TRG Pakistan Mohammed Khaishgi and the CEO of TRG Pakistan Hasnain Aslam masterminded the $150 million fraud. They did so together with Hong Kong based fund manager Pinebridge who has two nominees on TRG Pakistan’s board, Mr. John Leone and Mr. Patrick McGinnis.

According to the court papers, Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis set up a shell company called Greentree which they secretly controlled and from which they started buying up shares of TRG Pakistan. The fraud was that Greentree was using TRG Pakistan’s funds itself. The idea was to give Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis control over TRG Pakistan even though they owned less than 1% of the company, lawyers of the petitioner told the court.

This was all part of a broader battle for control over TRG Pakistan that is raging between Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis on one side and TRG Pakistan founder Zia Chishti on the other side. Zia Chishti has been trying to retake control of TRG Pakistan after he was forced to resign in 2021 based on sexual misconduct allegations made by a former employee of his. This year those allegations were shown to be without basis in litigation that Chishti launched in the United Kingdom against The Telegraph newspaper which had printed the allegations. The Telegraph was forced to apologize for 13 separate articles it published about Chishti and paid him damages and legal costs.

After Chishti resigned in 2021, Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis moved to take total control over TRG Pakistan and its various subsidiaries including TRG International and to block out Chishti. The Sindh High Court’s ruling today has reversed that effort, ruling the scheme fraudulent, illegal, and oppressive.

It now appears that Zia Chishti will take control of TRG Pakistan in short order when elections are called. He and his family are now the largest shareholders with over 30% interest. He is closely followed by companies related to Jahangir Siddiqui & Company which have over a 20% interest. The result appears to be a complete vindication for Zia Chishti and damning for his rivals Aslam, Khaishgi, Leone, and McGinnis who have been ruled to have been conducting a fraud.

TRG Pakistan’s share price declined by over 8% on the news on heavy volume. Market experts say that this was because the tender offer at Rs 75 was gone and that now shares would trade closer to their natural value. Presently the shares are trading at Rs 59 per share.

According to the court ruling, since 2021, shell company Greentree had purchased approximately 30% of TRG shares using $80 million of TRG’s own money, which means that that the directors of TRG Pakistan allowed company assets to be funneled through offshore affiliates TRG International and Greentree for acquiring TRG’s shares – a move deemed both fraudulent and oppressive to minority shareholders. The Sindh High Court also found illegal Greentree’s further attempt to purchase another 35% of TRG shares using another $70 million of TRG’s money in a tender offer.

The ruling is a major victory for the tech entrepreneur Zia Chishti against his former partners and the legal ruling paves the way for him to take control of TRG in a few weeks.