ISLAMABAD: Dozens of those affected by the Modaraba financial scam protested outside the Rawalpindi office of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday demanding the bureau proceed against the accused. They said they were afraid that they were never going to get their hard-earned money back.
However, NAB officials dismissed the protests, saying they were ‘unnecessary’ and most probably staged at the behest of Mufti Ehsanul Haq, the primary accused in the case who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail.
NAB spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said one of the accused parties was trying to misinform Modaraba scam victims by telling them that they would get their money back as soon as the accused were released.
“They want public sympathy. This is untrue and the NAB requests the affected parties to confirm any and all such claims with the bureau first,” he added.
Sources within the bureau told Dawn that Mufti Ehsan was trying to create the impression that the affected parties would get their money back if he was released, which was not the case.
Mr Sajid said a misleading news item had been carried in a section of press on April 30 regarding Mufti Ehsan’s alleged release. “He is still in judicial custody in Adiala Jail and his case is under trial before the Accountability Court in Islamabad,” the spokesperson said.
NAB has so far arrested 12 of the accused in the Modaraba scandal. They are: Mufti Ehsanul Haq, Mufti Ibrarul Haq, Mufti Hafiz Mohammad Nawaz, Moeen Aslam, Obaidullah, Mufti Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Sajjad Ahmed, Asif Javeed, Ghulam Rasool Ayubi, Mohammad Hussain, Hamid Nawaz, and Mohammad Irfan.
A couple of months ago, the NAB chairman stated in public that he was “not satisfied” with the investigation.
Earlier, NAB released Mufti Ehsan on the assurance that he would pay Rs400 million in cash and would settle the remaining dues by selling his property. But when the number of affected people began to increase exponentially, NAB arrested him again. It turned out that he had deposited the money with offshore firms in Thailand and Hong Kong.
