LAHORE, Feb 21: Cheques for Rs167.26 million were distributed among 2,518 victims of cooperatives scam on Thursday at a ceremony held at the Chamba House here on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Brig Farooq Maan, incharge of the Punjab investigation cell of the National Accountability Bureau, said that 10,020 victims of the scam had been paid Rs408 million during the first phase of the plan between July and December 2001.

Brig Maan blamed successive governments for the problems faced by the depositors saying the culprits were henchmen of the past rulers and considered themselves above the law. Ironically, he said, the task of resolving the crisis was entrusted to those responsible for it.

He lauded the efforts of the Punjab NAB officials for the recovery of the plundered money and praised the Askari Bank management for its assistance. He reiterated the NAB appeal to people to identify the assets of owners and managers of the failed cooperatives.

Publisher Majid Nizami said that while his group of newspapers was opposed to the military rule, he felt that refund of the deposits of the co-op victims was a significant achievement of the military government.

He said that he, too, was a victim of a cooperative formed by a bureaucrat, who was married to a former minister. He said he had purchased two plots from the cooperative whose chairperson was still abroad. He said that the NAB should seek her extradition and ensure refund of his money.

The ceremony concluded with the distribution of the cheques Mr Nizami, Brig Maan and some other NAB officials. Punjab Cooperatives Liquidation Board chairman Ali Tahir Zaidi was also present on the occasion.