Saad requests NAB to postpone interview in housing scam

LAHORE: Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Thursday requested the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore to postpone his interview in a housing scam. The request came as Saad and his younger brother Punjab Minister for Specialised Health Khawaja Salman Rafique didn’t turn up before a NAB team.

The NAB had summoned Saad and Salman Thursday (March 22) and Monday (March 26) respectively but the latter was also asked to appear before the investigators on the same day, Thursday. According to a NAB official, a lawyer appeared before the investigators and sought some time on their behalf so they could respond to the allegations. Another notice could be issued to both the PML-N leaders very soon, he added.

It may be relevant to mention that NAB had summoned both the brothers to question them about their role, if there is any, in Paragon Housing Society which is currently under investigation in connection with Aashiana Housing Society scam.

Talking to Geo News, Saad said he received the NAB summons on Wednesday. “I am currently in Islamabad and busy with official work. I have to meet the Chinese ambassador as well,” he said, adding that he had sent a letter to the NAB asking to set another date for questioning. “I am willing to cooperate with NAB and provide them all the details. I will submit a reply to all the questions asked by the Bureau,” he said.

The federal minister reiterated his earlier claims and said accountability is being used as a pretext to target people. “The accountability process has never been transparent in Pakistan. People continue to be targeted under the name of accountability.” He described the NAB law as ‘black law’, but added he would still before NAB.

On the other hand, Ambassador-designate to United States Ali Jahangir Siddiqui on Thursday appeared before a combined investigation team (CIT) of NAB and recorded his statement regarding the accusations of causing losses of around Rs40 billion to different financial institutions. He responded to the queries of the investigators for more than one hour.

On March 15, the NAB Lahore summoned Ali for March 22 (Thursday) at its Lahore office. The NAB has been investigating M/s Azgard Nine Limited (ANL), Agritech Limited and others under the NAB Ordinance 1999. According to NAB, Ali is facing the probe being a director of Azgard Nine Limited which has been facing charges of siphoning off funds amounting to €23.758 million in 2008 for the purchase of an Italian company, Monte Bello SRL, using a foreign company, Fairytal SRL Sweden, which resulted in a loss to the company and shareholders.

Similarly, the charge of selling shares of Agritech Ltd to different financial and government institutions by Azgard Nine at a higher price than market price to settle the loan defaults of the company is also under probe. In its March 15 notice, the NAB authorities had warned the envoy-designate that if he failed to appear before the CIT then he may have to face penal consequences as per Section 2 of the schedule of NAB Ordinance 1999.

Only a few weeks back, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had appointed Ali as the ambassador to the US. He was scheduled to assume his new responsibilities in Washington next month in place of Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry who has reached the age of retirement. Currently, Ali is a special adviser to the prime minister.