Dr Asim got brother-in-law appointed to senior bank post, NAB tells SHC

Karachi
The brother-in-law of Dr Asim Hussain, former federal petroleum minister and chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission, was appointed in the National Bank of Pakistan in violation of rules and regulations pertaining to the appointment of senior executive vice president, stated the prosecutor from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in his comments before the Sindh High Court.
The comments were filed on a petition on Khalid Bin Shaheen, a senior executive vice president of the NBP’s remittance branch, in connection with the NAB’s inquiry against Dr Asim Hussain.
Shaheen is on interim pre-arrest bail issued by the Sindh High Court.
In his petition he mentioned that he was a banker and a relative of Dr Asim Hussain who is currently in Rangers’ custody.
Shaheen said an officer of the NBP, authorised to coordinate with the law-enforcement agencies, had summoned him to his office on October 1 where Rangers officials had questioned him about remittances made by Dr Asim Hussain.
The petitioner said he had informed the investigators that he had knowledge about Dr Asim’s remittances or properties. He said he had been summoned by NAB to its office where he was questioned for three hours about remittances and properties of the former petroleum minister, and the interrogation was filmed.
Shaheen said he had assured the investigators that Dr Asim had not remitted a single penny through the NBP’s exchange company but he received a call-up notice from NAB on October 23. His counsel, Haseeb Jamali, argued that NAB had sent the notice to Shaheen without disclosing the particulars of the inquiry. Therefore, he said, he feared for his arrest.
In his comments filed to the court, the NAB prosecutor submitted that a joint investigation team while conducting an inquiry against the former federal minister had found that Dr Asim had gotten the petitioner, his brother-in-law, illegally appointed in the NBP by violating the rules and regulations as required in the appointment of the said post of SEVP of the bank.
The prosecutors said during the inquiry it was found that the petitioner was the head of the NBP’s SEVP on May 5, 2009, while the ministerial approval of the same was received at the bank on May 20, 2009. No advertisement or procedural formalities had been met with regards to the appointment.
The NAB prosecutors alleged that the petitioner had created a group home remittance and made himself the chairman of NBP’s exchange company in which billion of rupees were exported to Dubai and maximum shares were sold to a single company. It was said the petitioner had close connections with the said company. The NAB alleged that more than 30 tie-up agreements had been signed during the posting of the petitioner in NBP while it was also discovered that he had purchased dollars worth millions of rupees from his own NBP exchange company.
The prosecutors requested the court to dismiss the petition arguing that NAB had acted in accordance with the law, so the question of harassment and blackmailing did not arise in any manner. A division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto extended the interim pre-arrest bail of Shaheen till December 3 with directions that the Investigation Officer appear on the next date of hearing. The court also directed the federal law officer to submit comments on behalf of the federal government.