ISLAMABAD: The National Account­ability Bureau (NAB) has decided to formally initiate investigation into allegations of corruption against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar.

The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the NAB’s executive board on Tuesday.

Presided over by NAB chief Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, the meeting also approved four corruption references to be filed soon in accountability courts.

Bureau’s executive board approves four corruption references

According to a NAB press release issued here, the meeting has decided to authorise complaint verification against Mr Qaiser. In the case, the KP speaker has been accused of misusing his authority, making illegal appointments and collecting assets beyond his known sources of income.

Inside sources told Dawn that the Peshawar NAB had received a complaint against Mr Qaiser from a resident of his home town Swabi. The complaint has been sent to the NAB headquarters.

However, NAB has so far not served any notice to the speaker to record his statement.

Mr Qaiser held a press conference a couple of days ago in which he rejected allegations of corruption against him. “All accusations are fabricated,” he said.

One of the allegations levelled against the speaker was that he owned a 35-kanal house in Islamabad’s Banigala area.

The NAB’s meeting approved a corruption reference against Shahzar Shamoon, former secretary of the Land Utilisation Department, Sindh, and others.

In this case, the accused persons have been blamed for illegal allotment of 530 acres of state land, misuse of authority, corruption and corrupt practices causing a loss of Rs53 billion to the national exchequer.

A corruption reference was approved against Syed Ali Raza, former president of the National Bank of Pakistan and others for alleged misuse of authority and criminal breach of trust by granting and revising financing facilities in the bank’s Bangladesh branch which caused a loss of $185 million.

The meeting approved a corruption reference against Ghulam Haider Jamali, former inspector general of Sindh police, and others for alleged misuse of authority, illegal appointments in Hyderabad.

A reference was approved against Javaid Raza Bhutta, Principal Engineer of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Islamabad, for allegedly accumulating assets beyond his known sources of income.

The meeting also decided to authorise four investigations against officials of Capital Development Authority and others regarding affairs of SAFA Gold Mall, against Nazar Abbass, Al-Abbass Inter­national Educational Consultants, former MPA Malik Muhammad Rafiq Khar, revenue officials and others.

It decided to authorise four inquiries against management of the University of Punjab, M/S Pak Rock Oil Trading Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, management of Sustainable Environment & Development Foundation, Hyderabad and MNA Sultan Mehmood Hanjera, and others.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2017