NAB forms team to probe sugar subsidy scam

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has constituted a combined investigation team (CIT) to investigate the sugar subsidy scam which was unearthed by the Sugar Inquiry Commission’s damning report.

In a statement on Friday, a NAB spokesman said the CIT was constituted in a meeting presided over by Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal after reviewing the Sugar Inquiry Commission’s report in detail. “The CIT has been mandated to conduct the investigations in impartial, independent, transparent manner,” he added.

The CIT will obtain details about the subsidy from provinces, financial and audit reports of relevant companies and other institutions from Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and from others to “probe the subsidy threadbare”.

The CIT consists of two investigation officers, financial experts, legal consultants, sugar industry investigation experts, an additional director and relevant directors to probe the scam.The investigations will be supervised by NAB Rawalpindi Director General Irfan Mangi, while the Chairman Iqbal, Deputy Chairman Hussain Asghar, Prosecutor General Accountability Syed Asghar Haider and DG Operations Zahir Shah will jointly review the report of the CIT every month.

According to the spokesman, the NAB Chairman has ordered carrying out the sugar subsidy investigations in a “professional manner” by providing ample opportunity to individuals and departments while taking action against those who received the subsidy on sugar “illegally”.The NAB Deputy Chairman, Prosecutor General, DG Operations, , DG NAB Rawalpindi and other senior officers attended the meeting.