NAB gearing up to bring all corrupt to book

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau Chairman Justice (R) Javed Iqbal Sunday said NAB was geared up to bring the corrupt to book by adopting ‘Accountability for All’ policy, as corruption was the mother of all evils.

“NAB has no affiliation with any political party, group or individual. The NAB officials have been directed to perform their duties in accordance with the law with the realisation that eradication of corruption is their national duty,” he said in a statement.

The NAB chief said about 1,130 references were under trial in the accountability courts and their approximate worth was Rs943 billion.

He said NAB had conducted probe into 56 public limited companies, offshore companies, fake accounts, money laundering and misuse of authority, assets beyond known sources of income and cheating the public at large in illegal housing/ cooperative societies and modaraba scams, etc.

He said that plea bargains were deemed conviction, which was approved by the respected accountability courts.

After a plea bargain, he said the accused not only accepts his/ her guilt in writing before the court but also returns the looted money to the national exchequer.

He said NAB had great regard for the business community as they were the backbone of the development of any country. “NAB has established special cells for addressing the complaints of the business community related to NAB,” he said.

He said NAB also respected bureaucracy and directed all concerned to ensure self respect of all persons visiting the NAB offices as per law. He said NAB, during the period of present management of three years, recovered Rs487 billion from the corrupt elements and deposited in the national exchequer, which was a record achievement.

Javed Iqbal said NAB was the chairman of Saarc Anti-Corruption Forum as the Bureau was considered a role model for entire Saarc member states. He said Pakistan and China had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for eradication of corruption. “Pakistan and China are jointly working for ensuring transparency in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects,” he said. He said NAB was the focal department under the United Nations Convention against corruption, which was a pride for Pakistan.

He said NAB had established a state-of-the-art Pakistan Anti-Corruption Training Academy on modern lines to train its investigation officers and prosecutors in order to inquire/ investigate white-collar cases more professionally and to plead them very vigorously in the respected courts on the basis of solid evidence as per law. He said NAB’s proactive anti-corruption strategy has started yielding positive results. “Due to its effective anti-corruption strategy, NAB has not only recovered Rs714 billion looted money from the corrupt directly and indirectly since its inception,” he said.