LAHORE: An accountability court on Wednesday convicted three men for defrauding the public at large and sentenced each of them to seven-year imprisonment.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference in 2019 against Zaheer Nasir, Zeeshan Mahmood and Muhammad Maqsood on charges of depriving people of their hard-earned money in the name of investment.

The prosecution said the suspects robbed their victims of millions of rupees. The prosecution presented 39 witnesses in the trial in addition to documentary evidence against the suspects.

Announcing the verdict, Presiding Judge Akmal Khan also imposed a fine of Rs5 million each convict in addition to the jail term.

Another accountability court on Wednesday sought arguments on acquittal applications by a couple facing trial on charges of defrauding public at large.

Farooq Naol and his wife Tayyaba, the woman also involved in a leaked video of NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal, along with their accomplices were accused of depriving innocent people of their money impersonating officials of secret agencies and the NAB.

The bureau in its reference said it received six complaints against the suspected couple and 36 witnesses gave statements against them.

It said the investigation revealed that the suspects lured and defrauded the complainants by collecting millions of rupees through corrupt practice and dishonesty.

It said the suspects looted the victims on the pretext of processing their visas, installation of towers of mobile companies, to get them relief in court cases and to purchase cheaper bulldozers for them.

The bureau said the couple deprived their victims of a collective sum of Rs20.4m. The couple had been granted post-arrest bail by the Lahore High Court.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2020