NAB Karachi office to ask chairman to authorise probes

The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Karachi leadership has decided to recommend the chairman of the anti-graft watchdog to authorise the filing of a number of references against encroachers of government land in Karachi.

The spokesman for the bureau’s Karachi office said a regional board meeting was held at the NAB Headquarters under the chairmanship of Director General Mohammad Altaf Bawany.

The board meeting, attended by the directors of NAB’s three investigation wings and investigating teams working on various cases, made several decisions.

The meeting decided to recommend the NAB chairman to authorise four investigations into an inquiry concluded against Sindh government functionaries and others over charges of illegal allotment of land of the Malir River bed for re-alignment/construction of an embankment for housing societies.

The inquiry had concluded that 307 acres were illegally allotted to various beneficiaries in violations of law and rules by way of fresh allotments after pushing back the boundaries of the Malir River.

The inquiry report contains prima facie allegations of misuse of authority allegedly committed by 20 government officials, including senior officers of the chief secretary level and below, along with various beneficiaries and front men.

Preliminary calculations of losses to the national exchequer stand at Rs15.7 billion.

The spokesman said the investigation had been approved for the filing of a reference against officers of the District Accounts Office Dadu and others facing charges of embezzlement/ misappropriation of pension funds allocated to the district.

The reference mentions charges against Ghulam Mustafa Lund and Muhammad Nazir Bhutto, both former district accounts officers of Dadu, and others about corruption, misuse of authority for personal illegal gains and causing losses to the national exchequer to the tune of Rs736 million.

The accused have been charged with misappropriation of government funds by cultivating agents and other innocent persons holding CNICs and bank accounts by using their IDs and bank accounts for clearing fake and bogus pension bills issued by them against bogus government employees of the education and police departments.

Ghulam Mustafa Lund had also entered into a voluntary return (VR) arrangement under Section 25(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 whereby he agreed to deposit in the national exchequer an amount of Rs356 million but he was still defaulting on remaining Rs146 million.

In an inquiry against Management of M/s State Bank Cooperative Society and officers of the revenue department of the Sindh government, the meeting accorded approval to send a recommendation to the NAB headquarters in Islamabad to authorise an investigation against the management of State Bank of Pakistan’s Staff Cooperative Housing Society and officials of the Sindh revenue department over the allegations of misuse of authority for illegal usurpation of government land situated Taluka Shah Murid in District Malir.

An inquiry was authorised against officials of the revenue department over allegations of causing a loss of 65 acres of government land in Scheme 33 in District East through usurpation on the basis of forgery by revenue officials in order to favour illegal beneficiaries.

An investigation was authorised against the management of the Hyderabad Railway Employees Cooperative Housing Society and beneficiaries of illegal allotment of 16 plots that belonged to the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

Towards the end of the board meeting, NAB DG Mohammad Altaf Bawany said the bureau was committed to initiating corruption cases on unequivocal lines, treating every citizen of Pakistan at par.

He said NAB had been contributing effectively to recovering government assets and restoring them to the Sindh government, particularly precious lands that had been subject of usurpation by forgery and other illegal means by government officials in connivance with private persons.