ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday approved a plea bargain worth Rs2.12 billion between suspects linked to Sindh Nooriabad Power project company and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

NAB authorities produced suspects Syed Asif Mahmood and Syed Arif Ali before the accountability judge, Mohammad Bashir.

The investigation officer while submitting a report to Judge Bashir said the suspects were ready to deposit Rs2.12bn into the national exchequer under a plea bargain deal arrangement with NAB authorities under Section 25(b) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

Judge Bashir asked the suspects if they were entering the plea bargain deal arrangement under coercion or free will to which they replied they were doing so of their own will.

CEO M/S Technomen Kinetic Pvt Ltd Syed Asif Mahmood and Director Nooriabad Power Company Syed Arif Ali were arrested by NAB on May 21 in connection with alleged misappropriation and money laundering in the Nooriabad power project.

NAB had stated then that the suspects were taken into custody for ext­ending illegal favours to M/S Tech­no­men Kinetic Pvt Ltd and others in projects of Sindh Nooriabad Power Com­pany and Sindh Transmission & Dis-­­­­patch Com­pany (STDC), causing $16 million loss to the national exchequer.

According to the prosecution, NAB chairman approved the application of the suspects seeking release under the plea bargain deal.

Asif Mahmood told the court that the worth of each project was approximately Rs12bn. The judge after a brief hearing accepted the application.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2019