Rs341m recovered within two months, claims DG NAB Karachi

KARACHI: After taking charge by the new DG NAB, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has submitted Rs341 million to the national exchequer and at least 12 cases were successfully decided in favour of the Bureau.

Talking to the Jang, the newly-appointed Director General NAB Karachi Brig (retd) Farooq Awan on Wednesday said the Bureau organises an open forum on the last Thursday of every month and earning the faith of the people as complaints were increasing day by day. He nullified the opinion of targeting the leadership of any specific political party or individual and said leaders of other political parties and government including bureaucrats are being investigated.

The DG NAB said for the last two months, the Bureau had speeded up the action against the complaints and nearly 20,000 applications were investigated, while at least 50 more cases were being probed. He said 10 new references were registered against the alleged criminals and decisions of 12 cases were successfully given in favour of the Bureau.

Awan said at least Rs518 million were recovered from Karachi and 153 suspects were also arrested in the current year. He said nearly 10,000 applications were received only in a year and all were dealt with accordingly, while 117 cases are being inquired upon and 42 references are in Accountability Courts. The DG NAB Karachi Farooq Awan claimed at least in 90 cases, sentences or plea bargain were given and nearly the amount and lands of Rs30 billion were recovered or evacuated from the accused and distributed among the victims or deposited in the national exchequer.

The DG NAB revealed some high profile cases, including four individuals of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and two renowned hospitals of Clifton Cantonment illegally built on amenity plots in which some high-level government officials and accomplices were being probed.

He added that the illegally permutation of 22,000-yards lands for a political bigwig, some individuals from Habib Bank and the sale and merger of KASB Bank to BankIslami for only Rs1,000 were also being investigated.

Farooq Awan said a report has been submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan telling about the evidence collected that the merger was possible because of the connivance of the officials of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Finance Division, who granted the amalgamation of the KASB Bank and BankIslami. He said a Chinese company Cybramt also showed interest in buying the KASB and offered 100 million US dollars but the national exchequer was financially harmed.

The DG NAB said after the merger, the BankIslami was granted Rs20 billion loan, causing loss of Rs3.2 billion to the national exchequer. He said the law allowed the NAB to take 5 to 15 percent recovery amount as commission but the bureau did not receive any amount yet.

Awan said not like the past, he prioritised the issues and put his focus accordingly on large issues and not on small complains. He said on the International Anti-Corruption Day programme, the cheques of recovered amount of Rs236 million would be distributed among the victims from various government departments.