Housing scheme chief among six convicted of corruption

An accountability court convicted on Wednesday six people, including government officers and private persons, in a Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Housing Cell corruption case, awarding them imprisonment from seven to five years.

Those convicted include low-cost housing scheme project director Manzar Abbas, Agha Zawar, Ashiq Ali Shaikh, Chaudhry Ashraf, Ghulam Muhiuddin and Agha Zubair. Muhiddiun and Zubair were given five years in jail while the rest were sentennced to seven years in jail. The convicts were also ordered to pay Rs15 million each in fines. Two accused, former National Assembly section officer Muhammad Raza Khokhar and his wife Rukhsana Abbas, remain absconding. According to NAB, which moved the case in 2015, the convicts misappropriated Rs367.593 million that were meant to build houses in different districts of Sindh. It added that the amount was drawn out through fake cheques in the name of Fiza Social Welfare Organisation.