ISLAMABAD:Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal on Monday reviewed the latest progress on logical conclusion of 179 mega corruption cases.
The meeting was informed that out of 179 mega corruption cases, 66 such cases have been concluded by various accountability courts due to vigorous prosecution
of NAB, whereas 94 mega corruption cases were still under trial in different accountability courts and early hearing pleas were being filed in the respected accountability courts as per law.
Chairman, National Accountability Bureau, Justice Javed Iqbal expressed satisfaction over the performance of NAB in mega corruption cases.
The meeting was informed that from out of a total of 66 mega corruption cases concluded – of which the accountability courts have imposed Rs 4.364 billion fine to various accused in 12 mega corruption cases.
The accused including Abdul Qadir Tawakal and others had been fined Rs 613 million, Ishtiaq Hussain, Messers Bariq Syndicate, Rawalpindi and others fined Rs 200 million, management of Pakistan Medical Cooperative Housing Society and land suppliers fined Rs 70 million, Haris Afzal son of Sher Muhammad son of Sher Muhammad Afzal and others Rs1 billion, Seth Nisar Ahmed and others Rs179.069 million, Sheikh Muhammad Afzal, chief Executive/Director Haris Steel Industry, private limited and others Rs 331 million, Raza Habib, Chief Executive, Mrs. Shumaila, Messers Jannat Apparal, private limited Faisalabad Rs174 million, Sheikh Muhammad Afzal Rs 435 million, management of Galaxy City Rawalpindi and others Rs 213 million, Ayaz Khan Niazi, former chairman NICL and others to Rs 900 million, Syed Murid Kazim, former provincial minister for Revenue, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Ahsanullah, former senior member Board of Revenue and others to Rs 200 million, Saeed Akhtar, Pakistan Railways and others were fined US dollars 3.78 million.
The NAB had also recovered Rs. 7.859 billion through voluntary return in six cases and deposited it in the national exchequer.
Among them, the management of Al-Hamra Hills and Eden Builders returned Rs. 1.902 billion and Management and others of Manzoor Ahbab housing society Maura Jhando returned Rs. 80 million, M. Amjad Aziz Chief Executive Officer Divine Developers Pvt. Ltd. and others returned Rs. 313.308 million, Khushal Associates Nowshera and others returned Rs.60 million, Shahnawaz Marri, former provincial sports minister Balochistan has given Rs 14 million through plea bargain. Meanwhile, the voluntary returns Rs 5.5 billion recovered from Riaz Ahmed, former project director, police department, Balochistan, re-deposited in the national exchequer.
The forum was informed that according to the law, the accused in four mega corruption cases made a plea bargain through which a total of Rs 1.256 billion was recovered by the NAB from the accused and deposited in the national exchequer.
Syed Masoom Shah, former special assistant to Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and others returned Rs 300 million, Messrs. Capital Builders Pvt. Ltd. (New Islamabad Garden, Islamabad) and others Rs 440 million, management and land supplier of Messrs Teletown Pvt. Ltd. and others Rs 311 million, Rao Fahim Yaseen, Rao Nadeem Yasin, Rao Naveed Yaseen and all the partners of Messrs Wind Mills Restaurant, Lahore, and others made a plea bargain of Rs 205 million.
The forum was informed that the plea bargain was deemed conviction which fell in the domain of Article 25-b of NAB Ordinance 1999.
The accused after seeing the proofs and solid evidence collected by the NAB voluntarily opts for plea bargain, as he has no other way out for him.The accused not only confessed his guilt but also agreed to return the stolen money.
According to the law of plea bargain, the final approval was given by the esteemed accountability court.
The session was also told that out of 179 mega corruption cases, 10 inquiries and 11 investigations were continuing while references in 94 mega corruption cases were being heard in various accountability courts.
Justice Javed Iqbal said eradication of corruption from the country and recovery of money looted from the corrupt elements was the top priority of anti-graft watchdog body.
NAB had recovered Rs 821 billion looted money from corrupt directly and indirectly since its inception and deposited it in the national exchequer, while under the current leadership of NAB during the tenure of three years, 539 billion rupees had been recovered from corrupt elements and deposited directly and indirectly in the national treasure.
This progress was the clear evidence about the NAB s excellent performance against other anti-corruption agencies.
On the other hand, the NAB’s 1237 corruption references valuing over Rs 1335 billion, were currently pending in various esteemed accountability courts of the country.
The Chairman directed all the regional bureaus of NAB to pursue NAB cases in the esteemed courts in accordance with the law with full readiness in the light of solid evidence, authentic documents and statements of witnesses. In addition, the quality of complaints verification, inquiries, and investigations should be further improved.
Chairman NAB, Justice Javed Iqbal said NAB was pursuing a policy of accountability for all which has begun to show excellent results.
The cases of eradication of corruption from the country, money laundering, embezzlement of government funds and large scale fraud comes under the purview
of NAB.
Owing to outstanding performance of NAB, reputed national and International organizations have appreciated NAB’s performance with 66 percent cumulative success ratio.
According to a survey of Gillani and Gallop Pakistan 59 people of Pakistan showed confidence upon NAB. A system of monitoring and evaluation was devised to improve the performance of the NAB.
He said NAB believed in a corruption free Pakistan. NAB officers should play their full role in eradicating corruption from the country by following the policy of zero tolerance as per law.