PESHAWAR, July 1: An accountability court on Tuesday convicted a former excise and taxation officer Abdul Hameed Marwat, sentencing him to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposing a fine amounting to over Rs8.51 million.

The court, presided over by Said Maroof Khan, directed that if the convict should failed to pay the fine within a month, his properties should be forfeited to the state.

The court observed that the prosecution had proven that the accused possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The National Accountability Bureau had charged Mr Marwat of possessing assets worth Rs32.887 million, which was not in accordance with his known sources of income, a crime under Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance 1999.

The convict was arrested on April 18, 2001. His properties mentioned by the NAB are as follows: two plots in posh areas of Bannu and Lahore worth Rs760,000; three bungalows in Peshawar worth Rs8.535 million; credit in various banks worth Rs14.606 million; four vehicles worth Rs1.8 million; and, jewellry worth Rs476,000.