Masoom Shah offers to return Rs200 million to NAB voluntarily

PESHAWAR: Syed Masoom Shah, the special assistant to Awami National Party’s former chief minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, on Tuesday offered to voluntarily return Rs200 million to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to secure his release.
Syed Masoom Shah, commonly known as SMS, made the offer of voluntary return in the accountability court when he was produced before the judge in the case. Judge Muhammad Ibrahim Khan extended his judicial remand for further seven days.
Senior NAB prosecutor, Nauroz Khan, appeared in the case.
The NAB prosecutor said that the accused offered his voluntary return in the open court for which he would now file a proper application to the NAB chairman. The NAB arrested Syed Masoom Shah on August 11 on the charges of corruption and accumulation of assets beyond his known sources of income. He was seen as a big catch and both NAB and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission wanted to arrest him. In fact, many were wondering how come his arrest had taken so long after the end of the ANP-PPP coalition government in 2013.
The NAB claimed that Syed Masoom Shah’s assets included a house and hujra on 12 kanal of land in his village Battagram in Charsadda district, two plots of land in Hayatabad, two plots in land in Regi Model Town, two plots of land in DHA Karachi, a precious house on the Tulip Road, Bahria Town in Rawalpindi, one kanal house in Zaryab Colony Peshawar, three kanal of land at Tehkal Bala in Peshawar and one kanal of land on the Warsak Road Peshawar.