KARACHI, May 13: Judge Mrs Qaiser Iqbal of the Accountability Court No. 1 indicted on Tuesday a former chief of Habib Bank and two other co-accused in a corruption reference.

Dalia and three other senior officials of the bank, Sabir Hussain, Pir Didar Hussain Sarhandi and Anwar Haider Qureshi were charged with the embezzlement of over Rs236 million in 1996. The accused denied the charges and pleaded “not guilty”.

It was alleged that a vigilance cell of the bank impounded over 50 vehicles, given under a scheme of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after the owners defaulted on the payment of the due instalments.

Later, the three accused, who are on bail, allegedly released the impounded vehicles after receiving due payments from the owners. They allegedly did not deposit the money in the bank.

Judge Qaiser Iqbal put off the hearing of the case till May 24 and order the prosecution to produce its witnesses on the next date.