LAHORE, June 5: Despite issuance of two summonses by the National Accountability Bureau, former Bank of Punjab president Hamesh Khan has yet to appear before its financial crime investigation wing.

NAB Punjab Director (Awareness and Prevention) Farooq Hameed Khan told Dawn on Thursday that the bureau had summoned Hamesh Khan twice, but he had not joined the investigation. “His father informed the bureau in response to the first summons that he was not well and on the second, he said his son was out of town”, Farooq Hameed, a former brigadier, said. He added that the third and final summons would be issued shortly.

“The bureau expects Mr Hamesh to join the investigation,” he said, adding that the NAB goes for the arrest of an accused in ‘three situations’. First, if an accused did not join the NAB investigation after summoning him/her thrice, second, if it considered that the offence was of ‘serious nature’ and in the third situation, if there was a chance that the accused would manage to ‘slip away from the country’.

Besides Hamesh, six senior officers of the BoP also have been nominated co-accused in the Rs9 billion financial scam. All other officers (previously holding high managerial positions) have finally joined the investigation.

Brig Hameed also confirmed that Mr Hamesh Khan and the other officers had approved the loans amounting to Rs9 billion to ‘three local steel companies’ in violation of rules and regulations. He said the four people of the steel companies had also joined the investigation.

He said the accused would be given a fair chance to defend themselves before the investigators finalised a reference against them. The NAB investigators have to file a reference against the accused in an accountability court within five months from the day they start investigation.

He said the financial irregularities in the BoP were pointed out during an internal audit last year and a complaint was filed with the NAB by the State Bank of Pakistan management. After further probe the NAB upgraded the inquiry into investigation this year.

On the request of the NAB, the names of all accused in the case have already been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Dispelling the impression that Hamesh Khan was already in the NAB custody, the senior officer said: “He (Hamesh) never had been”.

According to a source in the provincial government, Hamesh Khan has links with the presidency and is in the hiding these days.