NAB inquiry initiated against businessman after his name emerged in fake accounts scam, SHC told

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated an inquiry against a businessman after his name emerged in the fake bank accounts scam being handled by the anti-graft watchdog in Islamabad.

The information to this effect was provided by a NAB special prosecutor to the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday during the hearing of a petition file by the businessman, Riaz Laljee, who had challenged the NAB inquiry against him in the fake bank accounts case.

The special prosecutor questioned the maintainability of the petition.

The petitioner had submitted that NAB had initiated an inquiry against him without providing any material, and questioned the initiation of inquiry proceedings by the bureau.

NAB had earlier filed comments on the petition stating that it had exercised its powers granted by the law and the anti-money laundering Act.

The NAB special prosecutor submitted that the proceedings conducted so far showed that the name of the petitioner had surfaced in fake bank accounts scam through his company Abbas Steel group/AGS Metal which had financial transactions with a fake account of the Lucky international. The high court was informed that the inquiry was at initial stages and NAB intended to conclude the proceedings in due course of time.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that NAB had so far did not provide any material on record. The high court directed the NAB counsel to provide relevant details, if any, and adjourned the hearing till July 14.

Detention case

The SHC also issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers, Customs officials and others on a petition against illegal detention of a shopkeeper.

Petitioner Mohammad Zaman had submitted that Customs officials raided at shops in the Jackson area and arrested eights persons on June 5. He submitted that seven of them had been released but one detainee Ikram Khan was still remained unaccounted for.

The petitioner requested the high court to direct the respondents to produce the detainee before a court and provide details of charges, if any, against him. The SHC directed federal and provincial law officers to file comments on the petition by June 29.