Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Aaccountability Bureau (NAB )has completed its inquiry into the multi-million dollar corruption scam pertaining to illegal sale of Pakistan Embassy buildings in Jakarta Indonesia and Tokyo, Japan, a well informed source told the Daily Times.

A NAB official confirmed that huge corruption was committed in the sale and the concrete evidence of this corruption has been collected which is sufficient to prove the case in a court in order to convict the accountable officers.

The report has confirmed that some senior officer from the Foreign Office could be indicted in this scam and for this purpose the assent of the foreign sectary is being sought.

The National Accountability Bureau has found massive financial irregularities, violation of rules and procedures in the sale of these national assets resulting in a huge financial loss to the national kitty.

The National Accountability Bureau NAB has completed the inquiry into this multi-million corruption scam in a prolonged time stretching over 14 years and has now submitted a comprehensive report to the chairman NAB for further action.

The probe into this scam was initiated on the direction of Public Accounts Committee which took notice on the Auditor General’s report.

Then Chairman PAC, Chaudhry Nisar Ali, played a key role in the investigaiton of this scam and formed a sub committee of the PAC under Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Speaker National Assembly who oversaw the investigation.

A well established source confided that NAB had decided to seek explanation from the criminals who had been identified for misappropriation of public wealth from the sale of national assets and for this purpose NAB had decided to issue show cause notices to them.

The source revealed that NAB had collected enough evidence of corruption and signs of kickbacks received in the sale of these national properties as these properties were disposed of only for personals gains.

NAB has also submitted a investigation report to the Public Account Committee sectariate, complying with the orders of the committee and Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq who had directed NAB to expedite the investigation and submit a compliance report to the NA.

NAB officials said that the foreign governments of Japan and Indonesia had cooperated with Pakistan Investigation officers of NAB and hads provide the required record and information in the line of the respective laws.

The report says Kamran Niaz then ambassador to Japan and Major General ®Syed Mustafa Anwar Hussain, have been held responsible for these scams involving millions of rupees.

The source further said that the then ruler General Musharraf approved and allowed the sale of these properties of embassies but the NAB report had kept mum over the role of Musharraf in the properties sale. Musharraf was then chief of army staff when the national assets were being plundered.

It has been established during the investigation that the properties of Pakistan Embassy located in Tokyo and Jakarta were disposed of at a throwaway price, causing a huge monetary loss to the national kitty.

The properties of Pakistan Embassy in Japan and Jakarta Embassy were sold out during the Musharraff regime.

Pakistan Ambassador to Jakarta Major General ® Syed Mustafa Anwar Hussain, with the connivance of other foreign officers, disposed of the embassy building for 1.32 million US dollars to pa rivate firm Palm Citra Paramia Ltd in 2002.

Syed Mushtaq Haider Rizvi, then third secretary to Pakistan Embassy raised his voice against this sale and corruption and wrote a letter to then sectary foreign affairs, apprising him about the corruption and misappropriation being done during the sale.

Mushtaq Rizvi was recalled later on was and was made OSD and he had to face hardships for the next six years as he was not assigned any posting for the crime he committed while raising the voice against the corrupt people holding key posts in the Foreign Office.

A foreign firm also moved a case in a local court, against a foreign officer for recovering 446000 US dollars, which is still pending.