LAHORE, Jan 7: An accountability court on Saturday sentenced Syed Sibtul Hasan Shah Gilani, alias Double Shah, to 14 years in jail on charges of defrauding public at large by collecting their money with a promise to pay them double in return.

The court convicted Shah when he confessed to his crime. However, he also criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), saying the bureau arranged 4,400 witnesses against him but never produced them in court.

He said he had not cheated any of his clients (investors) and returned their money along with 100 per cent profit without any delay. He said he had returned through NAB over Rs2 billion. He alleged that NAB authorities did not want his case decided but delayed for decades.

Judge Mureed Husain gave 14-year rigorous imprisonment to Shah and fixed Jan 14 to decide the fate of his accomplices, Munawar Husain Gilani, Syed Farhat Hasan, Chan Pir and Shaukat Ali.

Shah was arrested by the Ghakhar police of Gujranwala in a Rs30,000 robbery case in 2007. Later, he was handed over to NAB, which accused him of Rs2 billion financial fraud with general public. The fraud was declared one of the biggest financial scams in Pakistan.