09 October 2004	Saturday	23 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 8: The Punjab establishment of the National Accountability Bureau has announced the payment of Rs241 million to the affected people of eight cooperative and finance corporations.

The NAB will disburse on Saturday and Monday the entire money to the depositors of the National Industrial Cooperative Finance Corporation, the National Industrial Cooperative Credit Corporation, the Pakistan Development Cooperative Corporation, the Prime Industrial Development Cooperative Corporation, the Mercantile Cooperative Finance Corporation, the Zamindara Cooperative Credit Corporation, the Gujar Khan Cooperative Urban Finance Corporation and the Qudratabad Multipurpose Cooperative Society.

According to a handout, the NAB would pay 50 per cent of the depositors of other cooperatives. This is the 16th and the 17th time that the NAB will be paying the money to the affected people, according to a handout.

The NAB has so far paid to such affectees and banks Rs3 billion since it started legal action against cooperatives across the Punjab. The bureau said a consortium of banks had been paid because the previous government took a loan from it for the payment to cooperatives' victims.

The 16th ceremony at the Chamba House will be chaired by Brig Muhammad Farooq Maan, chairperson of the Punjab Cooperative Bank, on Saturday and the 17th by Maj-Gen Muhammad Masood Aslam, director-general of the Punjab NAB, on Oct 11, the handout said.