ISLAMABAD – In a strong push against financial crime, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has returned over Rs88 billion to citizens and institutions during its recovery drive in the first quarter of 2025. The effort, spanning January to March, focused mainly on housing scams, illegal land occupation, and other mega frauds.
According to NAB’s official report, the total recovered amount includes Rs2.085 billion in direct cash recoveries and Rs86 billion in indirect recoveries. These indirect recoveries largely involved the return of public and private land seized through fraudulent means. The recovered amounts were handed back to the rightful victims and government departments.
Notably, NAB Lahore led the drive by securing a staggering Rs70.87 billion in three major housing scams. These include recoveries from the Employees Cooperative Housing Society, State Life Insurance Employees Cooperative Housing Society, and Sarwar Omega Villas. Meanwhile, NAB Sukkur recovered 610 acres of National Highway Authority land valued at Rs8.53 billion.
In other provinces, NAB Balochistan retrieved 590 acres of illegally occupied state land worth Rs6.45 billion. NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recovered Rs0.56 billion related to illegal practices involving the University of Swabi and provincial departments. NAB Multan added Rs0.013 billion to the tally through action against the GFS 7 Wonders Housing Scheme.
Direct disbursements included Rs9.72 million returned to the federal government, Rs10.80 million to provincial governments, and Rs73.51 million to various departments and institutions. Most importantly, Rs1.99 billion was directly distributed among 19,105 scam victims, offering them much-needed relief.
Overall, these recoveries pushed NAB’s total reclaimed amount since its creation to Rs6.236 trillion. Impressively, 62.92% of this—about Rs3.92 trillion—was recovered in just the last 18 months. This achievement reflects NAB’s ongoing commitment to fighting corruption and returning stolen wealth to the people of Pakistan.