LAHORE: More than 300 people filed complaints with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday against various housing schemes, urging it to recover their hard-earned money from real estate scams at the earliest.

NAB Lahore Director General Amjad Majeed Aulakh held a monthly open court at the NAB office near Thokar Niaz Baig and assured the complainants that they would soon be compensated.

The affectees of Khyaban-i-Amin Housing Society, Professional Cooperative Housing Society, Bin Alam Housing Society, Gold Homes, Palm Vista Housing Society, Omega Housing Projects, Imperial Smart City, Al-Haram City, Grand Avenue Housing, UBL Cooperative Housing and Theme Park View City participated in the open court for redress of their grievances.

In addition, victims of Ponzi schemes including the Solar Panel Scam, Prime Zone LPG Scam, ForU Real Traders and the famous Double Shah Scam, also participated.

Addressing the victims of Khyaban-i-Amin Housing Society, the DG said that due to NAB’s recent actions, the housing scheme had adjusted the claims of 394 out of 600 victims. he said NAB was regularly monitoring the construction work of Khyaban-i-Amin Society and the status of complaints redressed. He said the applicants who were receiving the offer of plots and flats from the administration should take immediate possession. He said the NAB Lahore team had been asked to recover more than the original amounts of the claims.

Addressing the affected persons of the Professional Cooperative Housing Society, Mr Aulakh said due to NAB’s efforts, 130 kanals had been recovered and handed over to the society’s current management.

On the insistence of the victims, the DG issued instructions to the relevant investigation team to keep the victims regularly informed of the progress made with the society management.

Speaking to the affectees of the Bin Alam Housing, he said the society owners were released on bail by the judiciary after spending four years in jail; however, two accused had been declared absconders and the trial was underway in the accountability court on the NAB reference.

The affectees of the Gold Homes complained that the society administration had collected millions of rupees from hundreds of victims in the name of constructing three-marla double-storey houses. The DG urged the affectees to submit their claims to NAB Lahore immediately for further action so that investigations against the accused could be initiated.

Speaking to the affectees of Palm Vista Housing Society, Mr Aulakh said the bureau was completing the ongoing investigation against the said administration and would soon file a reference before the accountability court in this regard and the process of issuing red warrants for all the absconding accused would be initiated.

He further said NAB had also requested its headquarters for permission to challenge the court order to unfreeze the assets of the accused.

The victims of the Al-Haram City case were told that NAB had referred the case to the LDA for further action due to the non-inclusion of 100 victims or Rs500m in the case against the administration of the said society. However, he explained the NAB law, saying the NAB was authorised to take action only on evidence of corruption involving at least 100 victims or Rs500m in any scandal.

Addressing the victims of the Grand Avenue Housing Scheme, he said that efforts are underway to sell the properties of the accused and the amount received from the sale of the said properties would be distributed among the victims. Orders were issued to send the complaints of the victims against the UBL Cooperative Housing Society to the Registrar Cooperative for redress.

Talking to the applicants of the ForU Real Traders scam among the victims of Ponzi schemes, the DG said NAB had received 700 claims involving Rs530m.

Talking about Low-Cost Solar Panels scam , the affectees informed that they invested hefty amounts in the scam and the accused fled away grabbing all their investments, in response DG advised the affectees to submit maximum claims in said scam to expedite the investigation. He reminded the public that only registered companies and banks are authorised to collect money from the public.

The affectees of Prime Zone LPG scam were informed that two chief accused had recently been arrested.

The DG NAB said that the bureau was distributing Rs1.3bn to Eden affectees as a third installment.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024