Ex-NBP president granted pre-arrest bail

The Sindh High Court on Thursday granted pre-arrest bail to a former president of the National Bank of Pakistan in a Rs3.3 billion graft reference.

Former NBP president Asif Brohi, other NBP officials and private company representatives were booked by NAB in a reference that accused them of misappropriating Rs3.302 billion. According to NAB, private company Azgard Nine was under obligation to repay Rs40 billion to 63 different financial institutions, including Rs3.42 billion to the NBP.

The anti-graft agency alleged that NBP senior officials of the credit and finance department entered into an agreement of debt sweep and master restructuring of loan with the Azgard Nine management, and after which shares of Agritech, a subsidy company of Azgard Nine, were purchased at exorbitant price by misusing authority and causing loss to national exchequer.

Petitioner counsel Shaukat Hayat submitted his client was falsely implicated in the reference. The SHC’s division bench, headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, granted pre-arrest bail to the former NBP president and directed him to join the trial court proceedings. It also granted pre-arrest interim bail to Azgard Nine CEO Ahmed Humayon Sheikh and directed him to join the trial court proceedings.