Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal on Tuesday visited the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and said that honest businessmen should not fear harassment.

The chairman said that a special desk had been established in the bureau to address issues of the business community. He added that the business community was playing a key role in the economic development of the country and NAB would protect their genuine interests.

The NAB chief asked businessmen to send written complaints to the bureau, if any, against tax officers. He said that the anti-corruption watchdog would take action against wrongdoers as per the law. He assured that no discriminatory SRO would be issued to give any benefit to specific businessmen.

He said honest businessmen should focus on promoting business activities and NAB would protect their genuine interests. He said mistakes could be ignored, but crimes could not be ignored.

Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said that the NAB had received 39,728 complaints and recovered Rs 297 billion. He said that the anti-graft body had distributed Rs 850 million among fraud victims.

He advised those housing societies, which could not complete their projects, to either return whole amount to victims or given them plots to avoid NAB action.

He vowed that the NAB would continue to protect the interest of Pakistan and would conduct across-the-board accountability to curb money laundering and corruption.

Referring to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) action against encroachments, he said action would be taken against those who allowed encroachments to flourish.

Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Sheikh Amir Waheed said that business community would support NAB in its efforts to curb corruption.

He said that ICCI would never support any illegal business activity. He said that the decisions of Federal Ombudsman Office should be fully implemented to dispense justice to the people. He urged the government to amend laws to curb corruption. He, too, urged action against officers responsible for allowing encroachments in Islamabad.

ICCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed Malik, Vice President Nisar Mirza thanked the NAB chairman for visiting the chamber.

Published in Daily Times, September 12^th 2018.