Corrupt will be chased everywhere in world: NAB chairman

ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (R) Javed Iqbal Tuesday said the NAB would chase the corrupt everywhere in the world and would not let them go free.

“We will fulfil the responsibility to brought back Ishaq Dar back into the country and the paper work in this regard was being completed,” he said while talking to newsmen after addressing the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Tuesday.

In a reply to a question with regard his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, which creates criticism from the opposition parties, chairman NAB rejected the criticism, saying that there was no justification to criticise the meeting as the NAB’s administrative control is with the Interior Ministry. “A cut of Rs12 billion was put on the NAB’s budget and there was a need to revive as due of it the financial difficulties in paying the salaries and allowances of the NAB’s employees,” he said.

He said if he did not meet the prime minister then how could the problems of the NAB were to convey to the prime minister. “My integrity, honesty and impartiality were not fragile thing that it could be broken with just one meeting with the PM. No one has courage to buy me,” he said.

Earlier addressing the business community, Chairman NAB Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal said that those who had motorcycles in 1990s now own towers in Dubai and questioning them on these whether is a crime. “We will chase the corrupt everywhere in the world and will not let them scot free and brought the looted money back into the country,” he said.

The chairman NAB said he was playing his last innings and now he did not want to sit there just for the cause of the authority but to serve the country. He said debt on Pakistan including interest has crossed $100 billion, but it gave no benefit to the country. “Whether it was not a right of the NAB to question from those who avail this debt as it was not seen on ground where it was spent,” he said, adding that these debt were taken for the betterment of the people and development of the country but it was not happened and now it was his responsibility to ask about the spending from those who were responsible for it.

He said debt on Pakistan including interest has crossed $100 billion, but it gave no benefit to the country. The chairman NAB vowed that NAB would continue to protect the interests of Pakistan and would conduct across the board accountability to curb money laundering, corruption and others crimes.