‘NAB sets up training academy for officials’

ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said the NAB has established a training academy for NAB officials on the pattern of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy.

“The NAB has established its own Pakistan Training and Research Academy, which is imparting specialised training to investigation officers on modern lines in order to conduct investigations of cases of money laundering and white collar crimes besides the establishment of the state-of-the-art Forensic Science Laboratory in NAB Rawalpindi for scrutinising documents and fingerprints, analysis of digital data, etc,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

The chairman directed the officers to double their efforts in eradication of corruption, which is their national duty, so that the country could be put on road to progress and prosperity. ”The NAB has no affiliation with any political party, group and individual and it has only affiliation with the state of Pakistan,” he said. He said in order to further improve the quality of investigation, a Combined Investigation Team (CIT) system has been introduced consisting of one senior, one junior investigation officer and additional director as case officer, legal counsel, financial expert and forensic expert under the supervision of the director and the director general concerned to benefit from collective wisdom. He said the NAB is the focal organisation of Pakistan under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) which is a pride for Pakistan.

He said that NAB has recovered Rs714 billion directly or indirectly from corrupt elements and deposited in the national exchequer, besides handing over thousands of acres of state land to the concerned provincial government as well as returning billions of rupees looted money among thousands of affected by the Housing and Cooperative Societies scams as per law. He said the NAB is performing the national anti-corruption duties and determined to achieve the target of corruption-free Pakistan.

The NAB chairman said the overall conviction ratio of NAB in the accountability courts is about 68.8 percent which is the best among the fellow anti-corruption institutions. “The aim of NAB is a corruption- free Pakistan,” he said. He said the performance of NAB has been lauded by reputed national and international organisations like the Transparency International Pakistan, World Economic Forum, PILDAT and Mishal Pakistan.