LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday extended interim pre-arrest bail of Anjum Amjad, widow of Eden Housing Scheme’s owner late Dr Muhammad Amjad, and directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to expedite the process of plea-bargain with her in a Rs25 billion scam.

Hundreds of affectees of the housing scam held a protest demonstration outside the accountability court as Ms Anjum came along with her counsel on expiry of her pre-arrest bail.

The protesters demanded an early decision of the case and cancellation of the bail granted to her.

The counsel for Ms Anjum requested the court to allow her more time to finalise the plea bargain with the NAB.

Presiding Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmad allowed the request and adjourned the hearing till March 22. The judge also extended the bail of Ms Anjum till the next hearing.

According to the NAB, there are over 12,000 affectees of the scam unearthed in 2013.

The suspects had collected over Rs25 billion from the public through fraud and fled the country.

In September 2018, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had arrested one of the suspects, Murtaza, in Dubai. However, he was set at liberty owing to unavailability of sufficient evidence against him. The properties owned by Eden Group were worth Rs22 billion.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2022