Daily Times

The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB’s) Executive Board Meeting (EBM) on Wednesday gave the green signal to conduct 12 inquiries, file three corruption references and close an inquiry against former minister Hafiz Abdul Kareem due to lack of evidence.

The EBM, chaired by NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, accorded approval to conduct inquiries against former minister for housing and works Akram Khan Durrani, former provincial minister Sher Azam Wazir and others, former MPA Ali Ghulam Nizamani, MNA Saeed Khan Nizamani, former Malir Development Authority DG Muhammad Sohail, Sialkot Cantt MES Xen Asmatullah, and a number of other individuals and entities.

The EBM approved conducting investigation against Atif Kamran, the chief executive officer of UNICO Pakistan Private Limited and others.

The meeting also accorded approval to file a corruption reference against Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and others for allegedly making illegal assets by abusing authority, thus causing a loss of Rs 600 million to the national exchequer.

It also accorded approval to file a corruption reference against Mazharul Islam, former executive director of Lok Virsa, Islamabad, on the charges of awarding contract to favourites and inflicting a loss of Rs 30.13 million to the national kitty.

It approved filing of another corruption reference against Fazal Mannan, former FATA education director, and others for illegally appointing teachers – who turned out to be ghost employees – and inflicting a loss of Rs 110.73 million to the government coffers.

The EBM gave its consent to close the inquiry against Senator Hafiz Abdul Kareem, former minister for communications, and others due to absence of evidence.

The meeting also approved closing the investigation against owners of AM Construction Company Private Limited and others due to absence of evidence.

The EBM approved referring the inquiry against management/officials of Sargodha Capital Market to the Punjab chief Secretary and another inquiry against KESCO Chief Executive Officer Rehmattullah Baloch and others to the relevant department. Speaking on the occasion, the NAB chairman said that taking mega corruption cases to their logical conclusion was his top priority. The NAB was vigorously pursuing the policy of “accountability for all”, and all resources were being utilised to retrieve the looted money from the plunderers. “Corruption is the root cause of all ills, [so] eliminating it is the collective responsibility of all Pakistanis.”