SHC reserves order on bail plea of co-accused in Rs18 billion corruption reference

The Sindh High Court on Friday reserved its verdict on the bail applications of National Bank of Pakistan’s officers allegedly involved in a Rs18 billion corruption scam in the bank's Bangladesh branch.
Petitioners Zubair Ahmed, Imran Butt and others were booked by the National Accountability Bureau along with former NBP president Syed Ali Raza in the corruption reference. According to the anti-graft agency, the bank’s branch in Bangladesh gave loans valuing $185 million without securing collateral from the years 2001 to 2013 and, in certain cases, the branch released securities without even recovering the loans.
The anti-corruption body also authorised the investigations into the conduct of the NBP former president accused of abusing his powers in the processing and sanctioning of the credit limits, wilfully avoiding proper valuation of securities offered by borrowers and causing losses of US$185 million to the national exchequer.
NAB alleged that the 2009 audit report of the NBP had exposed irregularities and the State Bank of Pakistan had also expressed reservations on the financial affairs of the bank, adding that former president Syed Ali Raza, NBP officials, including Zubair Ahmed, Tahir Yaqoob, Imran Butt, Ibrar Beg, Imran Ghani, and some Bangladeshi citizens were also involved in the scam. The anti-graft body’s counsel also submitted the list of doctors of different hospitals for constitution of the board for medical examination of ex-president Ali Raza.
The counsels for petitioners submitted that their clients were falsely implicated in the case and requested the court to grant them bail since the case required further investigation. The court observed that a medical board would be constituted for medical examination of the bank’s ex-president and reserved its order on the bail petitions. It is pertinent to mention here that the SHC had earlier dismissed the pre-arrest bail of the former NBP president and other bank officers who were, subsequently, arrested by NAB.
PPL property scam
The SHC also directed NAB to submit a report on filing of a reference against a former managing director of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited and others in a case pertaining to the sale and purchase of a plot worth Rs1.2 billion by an estate broker, the AKD Real Estate, and the Pakistan Petroleum Limited. The anti-graft agency accused them of violating the Public Procurement Rules.
Khalid Rehman, who is also named as a co-accused in a multi-billion corruption reference against former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain, and others had moved the court for obtaining pre-arrest bail and against the NAB’s inquiry pertaining to the purchase of land for a corporate office of the PPL in violation of the procurement rules and in collusion with an estate broker and the AKD Real Estate.
The anti-corruption agency conducted an inquiry into the purchase of the 6,928 square-yards plot at a prime location of the city on a complaint that the real estate entered into an agreement with regard to purchase of the plot situated at Civil Lines Quarters with mala fide intention and illegal gains. It was alleged that the deal was made at Rs175,000 per square yard with a total consideration of Rs1,212,442,000 whereas at that time the official rate of the said property was Rs34,500 per square yard, while the market rate was from Rs100,000 to Rs125,000.
The complaint alleged that the property in question was transferred to the PPL through a conveyance deed on July 15, 2010, registered at the office of a sub-registrar in Saddar.
The complaint also alleged that the property was purchased at a rate which was 40 percent higher than the market price to earn illegal gains and causing a loss to the national exchequer worth millions of rupees.
The NAB’s counsel submitted that the investigation had been completed in the case and a report had been sent to the NAB chairman for approval of filing a reference. He sought time to file the report.