ISLAMABAD: The executive board of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday authorised filing of half a dozen corruption references, including one against Omni Group’s chief executive officer Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed, for allegedly being involved in ‘fake’ accounts scam and getting seven-acre state land regularised, causing a Rs1.422 billion loss to the national exchequer.

The executive board meeting, which was presided over by NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal at the bureau’s headquarters, also authorised filing of a corruption reference against Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, former director of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for urban planning, and others for allegedly causing a Rs408.32 million loss to the national exchequer by allotting 4.5-acre land to Shuttle Bus Service at Diplomatic Enclosure.

According to a press release, the meeting approved a corruption reference to be filed in accountability court against former Workers Welfare Fund secretary Iftikhar Rahim Khan and others for their alleged involvement in embezzlement of funds, causing a Rs466m loss to the national exchequer.

The meeting also allowed officials concerned to file a corruption reference against former KMC administrator Mohammad Hussain Syed and others for their alleged involvement in illegal allotment of welfare plots.

Another reference approved for filing in an accountability court was related to award of water supply scheme contracts allegedly by former secretary of Special Initiative Department of Sindh government Ejaz Ahmed Khan and others for inflicting Rs29.25m loss.

The board also approved a reference against Ali Gohar Dahri, an officer of a provincial government department, and others for making ‘illegal’ recruitments, allegedly inflicting a Rs74.85m loss.

Meanwhile, former prime ministers Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday were interrogated by NAB officials in different cases.

Mr Abbasi was interrogated for one and a half hours in cases of LNG and purchase of bullet-proof vehicles for Saarc conference.

Mr Gilani was questioned about giving government vehicles that he had received as gifts to Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. He claimed that he had the powers to do so and that he was later informed that the payments for the vehicles had been made through ‘fake’ accounts.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2019