LNG reference: Court indicts Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, others

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court, Islamabad, on Monday indicted former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, ex-finance minister Miftah Ismail and other co-accused in the LNG terminal reference filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Accountability Judge Muhammad Azam Khan ordered provision of a copy of the charge-sheet to all the accused. The PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail and others accused denied charges and opted to contest them. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who served as the PM from August 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018, after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif, has been accused of awarding the LNG Terminal-1 contract in a non-transparent manner.

According to NAB, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, ex-PSO MD Imranul Haq and others are accused of awarding an LNG import contract allegedly at exorbitant rates in 2015 which caused a huge loss to national exchequer. The reference was filed on August 6. NAB claimed that from 2013 to 2017, unexplained deposits of Rs1.4 billion and Rs1.2 billion were made to Abbasi and his son’s bank accounts.