RAWALPINDI: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed claimed on Thursday that Managing Director (MD) of Inter State Gas Systems Mubin Saulat and former secretary of petroleum Abid Saeed have become approver in the LNG corruption case against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

“This is not an ordinary corruption case, but an amount of billions of rupees is involved and all those making a hue and cry over the issue will go to jail,” Mr Ahmed said while speaking at a press conference at the Rawalpindi Press Club.

He said the LNG corruption case was taken up by NAB in February this year and top officials of NAB investigating the matter had been allegedly challenged by the accused “to do what you could do as nobody could touch us (Abbasi and others involved in the case)”.

The minister said that 12 to 13 people were involved in the scam and a tough action was on the card against them.

Mr Ahmed said he had provided evidence to NAB authorities about the case, adding that Miftah Ismail, the former finance minister, was also allegedly involved in the case.

The minister accused PML-N and PPP leaders of using fake accounts of vendors for transactions of billions of rupees illegally.

“The leaked video clip of judge Arshad Malik will plunge Maryam Nawaz and politics of her party into a deep ravine and her political future is now doomed,” he claimed.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would not give NRO to any opposition leader. The minister asserted that a much respected personality was to be arrested soon on charges of money laundering case.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2019