ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday opened a major corruption case against revenue and other officials of a town in Karachi and arrested five accused in a separate scandal over alleged wrongdoing in affairs of a municipal administration in the interior of Sindh.

The decision to open the new case was taken at a meeting of the NAB’s Executive Board held at the bureau’s headquarters.

According to NAB spokesman Nawazish Ali, the meeting authorised investigation against officials of the Sindh Workers Welfare Board and Revenue Department, Gadap Town, Karachi.

In the case, the accused are allegedly involved in purchase of 129 acres of land in Deh Mahyo area at exorbitant rates.

In a separate case, the NAB received a complaint against officials of the Tehsil Municipal Administration of Sujawal who in collusion with one another embezzled Rs101 million by allocating funds to ghost contractors against fictitious schemes.

“During the course of investigation, criminal role was established against five accused, namely Iqbal Qasim Junejo, Mohammad Ali Shah, Agha Jahangir, Mohammad Wasif Malik and Orangzeb Magsi, who were arrested by NAB Karachi on Friday,” Mr Ali said.

The accused will be produced before an administrative judge of the Accountability Court, Karachi, for physical remand.

The NAB is already investigating some other scams in the revenue department and other organisations of Sindh. The PPP has criticised NAB’s action generally in Sindh and particularly in Karachi.

Reviewing a separate case, the board meeting decided to send the case against Azhar I. Jaffary, ex-chairman/MD of the Sindh Engineering Limited, Karachi, and others regarding alleged corruption, corrupt practices and embezzlement of funds to the ministry concerned for appropriate departmental action.

The meeting also reviewed a case against Faisal Farooq, Ahmer Farooq, Fahad Farooq, Omer Farooq and Farooq Ahmed of the Nirala Dairy, Lahore, and its directors/associates and abettors.

The meeting said the case should be sent to the Bank of Punjab and if the bank felt that it was a case of wilful default then it should send it again to the NAB through the State Bank of Pakistan under 31-D of the NAB Ordinance.

In an inquiry against Khalid Islam, the director general of the Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies, Islamabad, the meeting noted irregularities and decided to send the case to the Ministry of Science and Technology for appropriate departmental action.

In a case against contractor and officials of the Pakistan Railways and involving alleged embezzlement in the purchase of different items, the meeting directed director general of NAB Lahore to further examine the case and submit a report on the matter as soon as possible.

In this case, the accused railway officers allegedly misused their authority by issuing an ambiguous work order for supply of 11 items in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules and made full payment to a supplier before completion of the project and before meeting documentary requirements.

Reviewing a case against officers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and others regarding illegal reinstatement of accused Gulzar Khan, Sher Adam, Hizbullah Khan and Hidayat Khan, the meeting decided to send a letter to KP chief secretary and inform him about the plea bargain deal with the accused and the legal consequence of a deemed conviction.

In a case against Syed Ahmad Hussain Shah, a former minister for industries and commerce, officials of Wapda/Peshawar Electric Supply Company, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd and others regarding alleged illegal conversion of an industrial plot into a commercial one, the NAB decided to close the case due to lack of prosecutable evidence.

The meeting decided to approve the voluntary return application of officials of the National Productivity Organisation amounting to Rs51.65m of the original amount plus interest at average Kibor rate.

It also approved voluntary return application in a case against the Al-Hamra Hills, Al-Hamra Avenue and Eden Builders amounting to Rs643m of the original amount plus interest at average Kibor rate.

In a case against Raees Munir Ahmed, a former federal minister, and others the board said it was a family dispute and beyond the scope of the NAB Ordinance. However, if the Bank of Punjab felt it was a wilful default, it should refer the case to NAB through the State Bank of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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