ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said out of 179 mega corruption cases, 66 cases have been brought to a logical conclusion as per law.
“The NAB has not only apprehended ‘untouchables’ for the first time in its history but it is pursuing the cases against the corrupt elements in courts on the basis of solid evidence and during the current tenure of NAB administration, between October 2017 and November 30, 2021, about 1194 accused were convicted by the Accountability Courts,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
He said the NAB is determined to bring logical conclusion of mega corruption cases like money laundering, fake account, assets beyond known sources of income, cheating public at large, housing societies and Modaraba cases by utilising all its resources as per law.
Out of 179 mega corruption cases, he said 66 had already been brought to a logical conclusion, while 94 mega-corruption cases are still under trial in the learned accountability cases.
He said corruption is the biggest obstacle in the way of development and prosperity of the country. He said the NAB is focal organisation of Pakistan under United National Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). NAB is pursuing the policies of ‘accountability for all’ aiming to make Pakistan corruption free. “The NAB is the role model for SAARC anti-corruption forum,” he said.
He said the NAB has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to oversee China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects being completed in Pakistan.
He said the NAB has introduced a Combine Investigation Team (CIT) system to benefit collective wisdom of supervisory officers so that the corrupt elements could not go scot free. He said the NAB has established a forensic laboratory having facilities of digital forensic, question documents and finger prints’ analysis. “The performance of NAB has improved with those measures and has devised a comprehensive Quantified Grading System to improve performance,” he said.
He said the NAB has also set up Witness Handling Cells in all regional bureaus and as a result of this move, the NAB is pursuing its cases in the courts on the basis of solid documentary evidence. “The overall conviction rate in NAB cases is 66 percent,” he said. The chairman NAB he has directed all NAB officers to redouble their efforts to make Pakistan corruption free.
He directed all the officers of NAB to consider the eradication of corruption as their national duty and perform it with determination, merit, hard work and transparency. “Credible national and international organisations like Transparency International, PILDAT, World Economic Forum, Mashaal Pakistan, etc have expressed full confidence in NAB’s initiatives,” he said.
He said according to the results of survey conducted by Gallup and Gilani Pakistan, 59 percent Pakistanis expressed their satisfaction over the NAB’s performance.