NAB okays inquiries viz Dar, Mehdi Shah

ISLAMABAD: The executive board meeting of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) approved inquiries against Pakistan Muslim-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar and former Gilgit Baltistan (GB) chief minister Syed Mehdi Shah on Thursday.
A meeting of the executive board was chaired by NAB Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal and it gave go-ahead to the institution of a number of new corruption inquiries.
The bureau’s executive board approved a new inquiry against Ishaq Dar. An inquiry against Syed Mehdi Shah on graft charges was also approved.
It gave approval to a corruption inquiry against former Capital Development Authority (CDA) director Asadullah Faiz and others on charges of allowing commercial use of a plot earmarked for a health facility. The meeting also approved an inquiry against former envoy AS Babar Hashmi and others.
In his remarks, the NAB chairman said the anti-corruption watchdog is strictly pursuing the “accountability of all” policy. Corruption-free Pakistan is the bureau’s foremost priority, he added.
Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday failed to file supplementary reference in a money laundering case that caused Rs25bn loss to the Sindh Bank.
Former director Sindh Bank, Bilal Sheikh appeared before the court of AC Judge Azam Khan. At the outset of the hearing, the NAB prosecutor sought more time for filing supplementary reference in the case.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing of the case after giving time to the NAB until January 5 to file supplementary reference.
On June 10, NAB had arrested President Sindh Bank Tariq Ahsan and Bilal Sheikh in a fake bank accounts case. The NAB Rawalpindi arrested accused Bilal Sheikh, ex-president Sindh Bank, Tariq Ahsan, president Sindh Bank and Nadeem Altaf, executive vice president Sindh bank involved in corruption and awarding loans to Omni group through illegal means.
The three accused have awarded illegal loans of worth Rs 1.8 billion to beenami companies of Omni group, said sources.
Former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, his sister and 32 other accused are facing charges of laundering more than Rs35 billion through fake bank accounts. Zardari’s close aides Hussain Lawai and Anwar Majeed have also been nominated in the scam. They both are in judicial custody. – TLTP