Chairman reviews NAB performance

ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (R) Javed Iqbal said that NAB’s main focus is on mega corruption white collar crime cases, cases of cheating public at large, misuse of authority, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds and housing societies/cooperative societies.

“Since present management of NAB after due deliberation has devised effective operational methodology comprises of complaint verification, inquiry and investigation and finally to a reference in the Accountability Court,” he said while chairing a meeting to review overall performance of NAB at NAB Headquarters on Wednesday.

The Chairman NAB said the Bureau has rationalized its workload and 10 month timeline has been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases. A new system of Combine Investigation Team (CIT) system has been put in place on the basis of best practices in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. “This is not only lending quality to the work but also ensuring that no single individual can influence the official proceedings of NAB,” he said. He said that NAB has established its own State of the Art Forensic Science LAB (FSL) in Rawalpindi which has facilities of Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis. He said that on bilateral cooperation, NAB has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China to streamline and structure and cooperation in the fields of anti-corruption.

In the context of CPEC, he said this cooperation will further boost confidence in projects undertaken in Pakistan. He said that an effective accountability mechanism is quintessential for economic growth, investment and stability of social order. “The NAB has received almost double complaints from the previous year which shows that 59 percent people have confidence upon NAB as per Gillani and Gallop survey,” he said. He said the NAB has filed 600 corruption references in respected Accountability Courts which is an excellent achievement as compared to last five years of NAB. On the basis of across the board accountability, he said the NAB during the past 22 months, through direct and indirect recovered Rs71 billion from corrupt elements and deposited all amount in national exchequer.