NAB gears up to recover Rs 5m from a dead man

Author: By Rana Mushtaq

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has issued a notice for the recovery of Rs 5 million to a person who passed away three years ago.

A well-placed source privy to this development told this scribe that senior bosses of the NAB’s Rawalpindi directorate faced humiliation/embarrassment when they were informed that the delinquent Muhammad Ashraf had passed away three years ago, and the recovery of Rs 5 million could not be materialised.

The bureau is responsible for retrieving plundered public wealth from criminals, but the performance of this state institution could be gauged by its performance, as it is now issuing notices to deceased persons.

The Rawalpindi directorate, which is plagued with incompetence, corruption and malpractice, issued a notice to delinquent deceased Muhammad Ashraf, son of Bahadar Ali and a resident of Islamabad, directing him to deposit Rs 5 million in the bureau’s accounts within seven days after receiving the notice. The notice read that the NAB would take stern action against him if the orders were not complied with.

Muhammad Ashraf was accused of corruption worth millions of rupees, and an accountability court in Rawalpindi passed a judgement against him in 2012. The court issued directives to the authorities that Rs 5 million be recovered from him. Muhammad Ashraf passed away the very next year. However, it took NAB three years to come out of hibernation and issue a recovery notice to him. The notice was signed by Senior Director (Recovery) Muhammad Ali.

Sources said that Muhammad Ali is also facing corruption charges and the NAB’s surveillance department is monitoring his activities very closely.

A source said that the Rawalpindi recovery directorate was bound to issue a notice to the delinquent in 2012 and to pursue it vigorously, but the recovery officer concerned took up the case after a lapse of three years.

Senior NAB officials came to know about the death of the accused only after issuing a notice. The heirs of the delinquent told NAB officials that he passed away three years ago.

The source also informed this scribe that NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry took notice of this negligence on part of the NAB directorate and initiated an inquiry against Muhammad Ali for not pursuing the case and failing to recover Rs 5 million. The source said that the NAB chairman had also summoned NAB Director General Attique and sought explanation for negligence on behalf of his subordinate.