Daily Times

LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore, in a ceremony held on Tuesday, distributed cheques worth Rs 1.67 billion to the affectees of the Pak Arab Housing scandal.

NAB Deputy Chairman Sohail Nasir and Director General Lahore Amjad Majeed Olakh were the chief guests of the ceremony. Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Director General Sohail Zafar Chattha, Secretary Mines and Minerals and senior officers of NAB and hundreds of affectees attended the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Sohail Nasir, Deputy Chairman NAB, highlighted that the bureau’s primary objective is to serve the nation and the country. He emphasized that common people are beneficiaries of NAB policies, enabling them to recover their plundered money. He mentioned that NAB Lahore is actively recovering looted funds from 2,226 affectees of the Pak Arab Housing scandal. He added that the case, which surfaced in 2018, is nearing its conclusion due to the swift measures taken by the bureau.

Sohail Nasir announced that in cases of complaints against bureaucrats, NAB would refrain from directly summoning them to its bureau. Instead, an independent complaint cell has been established under the supervision of the Chief Secretary at the Civil Secretariat to address such concerns in a fair and impartial manner. He added provision of cordial business atmosphere to the business community of the country is the top priority of the NAB. The Chairman NAB also met with various chambers of commerce and assured business community of their full support in creating business oriented opportunities, he added.

NAB Lahore DG Amjad Majeed Olakh informed the participants that the NAB Lahore had also arranged similar events before to return the looted money of the people and around Rs 7.5 billion have been distributed among affectees of various scams. He said that NAB Lahore has recovered more than Rs 35.6 billion so far.

The NAB is putting efforts to ensure the compensation of hard earned money of the affectees, he said, adding that NAB has always urged the people to thoroughly check the documents and also get them verified before buying a house or a piece of land. He said people should refrain from investing their money in fake housing schemes. It has been observed that some housing societies’ owners are be-fooling people by showing them the fake maps and piece of land, he added.