LAHORE, June 18: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) claimed on Wednesday to have arrested five former officers of the Bank of Punjab in connection with Rs9 billion financial scam.

Punjab NAB director (awareness and prevention) Farooq Hameed Khan confirmed the arrest of BoP’s former senior officers - general manager Haroon Aziz, country risk manager Abdul Hameed, regional manager Shoiab Qureshi and managers Nouman Arif and Ziaul Haq.

He said the officers had been nominated co-accused in the Rs9 billion scam and the main accused - BoP former president Hamesh Khan - had yet to appear before the bureau’s financial crime investigation wing. He said the bureau had summoned Hamesh Khan twice but he had not joined the investigation so far.

Hameed said 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.

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. After further probe, the NAB upgraded the inquiry into investigation this year.