July 31, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 27, 1429

LAHORE, July 30: Another Rs4 billion have been found embezzled in the Bank of Punjab fraud, raising the total volume of the ‘biggest ever’ financial scam to Rs13 billion.

A NAB officer told Dawn on Wednesday that the bureau had detected the new embezzlements by the owners of three steel mills – Haris, Prime and Haider – who had taken huge loans from the BoP with the connivance of its former head Hamesh Khan and other senior officers on fake identity cards, over value collaterals\mortgages.

The officer further informed that Prime and Haider steel mills existed on paper while the Haris mills had a small unit on Sheikhupura Road. He said NAB had so far seized the bank accounts, properties and 22 luxury vehicles worth about Rs5 billion.

Hamesh Khan, the prime accused, had managed to escape the country in the last week of May this year while the other co-accused Seth Afzal, owner of the Haris Steel Mill, and his close associate Irfan Shaikh are also at large. The NAB succeeded in arresting BoP's former general manager, country risk manager, regional manager and two managers. They have been sent on judicial remand.

Punjab NAB director (investigation) Brig Farooq Hameed (retired) confirmed that Hamesh had escaped to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We have come to know through the Personal Identification Secure and Comparison Evaluation System (PISCES) of the Federal Investigation Agency that Hamesh managed to leave the country on May 28 (this year) from the Peshawar airport,” he said and added that the bureau’s overseas wing would try to bring him back. Hamesh had American nationality.

Mr Hameed said it was the `biggest ever’ scam in the country’s history and as the bureau had frozen the properties of some of the accused there were chances that they might enter into a plea bargain under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.

NAB officials are disturbed over losing key accused – Hamesh Khan and Shaikh Irfan – as they believe that their arrest could have helped recover the looted amount.