ISLAMABAD: The executive board of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday approved filing of three corruption references.

The first reference will be filed against Khawaja Anwar Majeed and others. They are accused of causing a loss of Rs340 million to the national exchequer through money laundering and corruption.

A meeting of the executive board presided over by NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal also decided to file a reference against Syed Arif Khan, director and partner of Messrs Kanal View, and others for allegedly looting people and causing a loss of Rs266m to the exchequer. They are also accused of having assets beyond known sources of their income.

The NAB deputy chairman, prosecutor general (accountability), director general (operations) and other senior officers attended the meeting.

The NAB board also approved investigation against Nasar Ahmed Afzal, Sagheer Ahmed Afzal and others, officers and officials of the excise and taxation department, owners, management and others of Unicorn Prestige hotel, Lahore, officers and officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority/Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, and management, officers and others of the Balochistan Development Authority, Quetta.

The meeting authorised holding of inquiries against the officers, officials and management of the Punjab Energy Holding Company Limited with the ongoing inquiry against appointment of officers in 56 companies.

The board referred an inquiry against Fazal Amin, Siraj Din and others to the Anti-Narcotics Force.

It allowed closing of an inquiry against Saeed Ahmed Khan, Chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, and others.

It also authorised closure of inquiries against officers/officials and others of Abdul Wali Khan University, international non-governmental organisations, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Free and Fair Election Network, FAO Rural Programme and others owing to absence of evidence.

The NAB chairman told the meeting that the bureau had filed 600 corruption references over the past 23 months. The conviction ratio in corruption cases was 70 per cent and Rs71 billion had been recovered directly or indirectly, he added.

Justice Iqbal said that 41 mega corruption cases had been concluded, while inquiries in 15 mega corruption cases were under way and investigation was continuing in 18 mega corruption cases.

He said NAB was striving to recover the money looted in Modaraba and Musharka scandals. As many as 44 suspects of the scam had so far been apprehended.

He called upon the media to check legality of housing societies before launching their advertisement campaign as some of them existed only in papers and were working without approval of the regulator.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2019