ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will carry out investigations into corruption and irregularities of Rs1.5 billion allegedly committed by PPP leader Asif Hashmi while working as chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) during tenure of the PPP-led government.

This was decided at a meeting of the NAB’s executive board held here on Wednesday and presided over by its chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry. The meeting took some other important decisions as well.

According to the NAB spokesman, the meeting decided to conduct three separate investigations against Asif Hashmi, the first one into the alleged illegal investment of Rs985.56 million in a private firm, the High Links Capital.

Also read: CM Shah calls it ‘invasion of Sindh’, lashes out at NAB, FIA

The second investigation is related to appointment, promotion and illegal regularisation of employees. And the third one pertains to the alleged illegal allotment of plots to ETPB employees.

The board also approved an inquiry (a stage prior to proper investigations) against Asif Hashmi over alleged illegal appointments in the ETPB in violation of rules. It is alleged that against the sanctioned strength of 180 employees, he made 716 illegal appointments in the board and thus caused a loss of Rs399m to the department.

In a scam of Rs5.8bn pertaining to misuse of authority and advertisement budget, the meeting ordered an inquiry against officials of the Sindh information department. In this case, the board approved voluntary return requests of Fawad Alam, director of the Value Added Marketing Services, Karachi, for Rs71.29m, and Abdul Qadir Shah, chief executive officer of M/s Connect Marketing Communication, Karachi, for Rs74.4m.

The meeting also approved a voluntary return request of Qasim Zia, a former PPP legislator, with an interim liability of Rs19.48m.

The meeting decided to initiate an investigation against Mian Masood Akhtar, former superintendent engineer of the public works department, Rana Saleem Akhtar and Hassan Akhtar, former executive engineers, and others. They are accused of embezzling Rs105m during the construction of a road from Danday Wala Bridge in Jhang to Danghroo Bridge in Faisalabad. The total cost of the project was Rs805m.

The meeting approved an investigation against the owners of the Fateh Textile Mills, its director Mohammad Saleem and others over illegal excavation of coal from Lakhra mines in Jamshoro district, Sindh, causing a loss of Rs2.24bn to the national exchequer.

The NAB will also carry out an investigation against Asfandyar Kakar, former food minister of Balochistan, Ali Bakhsh Baloch, former food secretary; Zahir Jan Jamaldini, former deputy director of the department, and others. They are accused of embezzling wheat bags from the Provincial Reserve Centre in Quetta causing Rs1.525bn loss to the national exchequer.

An investigation will be conducted against Syed Masoom Shah, special assistant to a former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over alleged corruption, corrupt practices and accumulation of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

An inquiry will be conducted against Syed Nusrat Shaukat and others, who are accused of acquiring millions of rupees in connivance with other people (Benamidars) through financial institutions under suspicious circumstances, causing a loss of Rs5bn to the exchequer.

Another inquiry was approved against Pakistan National Shipping Corporation Chairman Sheikh Arif Elahi and others over alleged corruption and corrupt practices.

The meeting decided to refer a case against a contractor and officials of the Pakistan Railways related to alleged embezzlement of Rs3.8m back to the PR for departmental action as per law.

It also decided to refer a case against the China Harbour Engineering Company and the Standard Chartered Bank back to the financial monitoring unit of the State Bank with a recommendation to send it to the Federal Investigation Agency for an inquiry under money laundering charges.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2015

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