Assets beyond means case: NAB starts forensic audit of assets of Punjab healthcare secretary, family

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore has started forensic audit of assets inherited or purchased by Punjab Specialized Healthcare Secretary Barrister Nabeel Awan in accumulating assets beyond means investigation against him and his family members.

The secretary, who was scheduled to appear on Tuesday, turned up at the bureau’s Thokar Niaz Baig office on Wednesday and submitted details of assets owned by him and his family members.

An official source told Business Recorder that among other assets, NAB is thoroughly looking into the documents, including transfer deeds, of Nabeel’s ancestral property for which a forensic audit is under way. He said the bureau is also conducting a forensic audit of the ink and fonts used in the (original) documents. He added that NAB had earlier directed the Faisalabad district administration and the Hosing Development Authority to provide details of properties owned by the secretary and his family members.

In April this year, the NAB had also summoned Nabeel Awan, accusing him of disappearing “important files” from the chief minister secretariat when he was serving as Additional Secretary CM Secretariat in 2008. Similarly, Nabeel once again came under the radar of NAB when he was serving as Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) Secretary in 2018 for his alleged involvement in corruption linked to the 56 companies set up by former Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, the NAB Lahore on Wednesday issued a public notice asking the affectees of the Grand City Kharian, Sarai Alamgir, to personally submit attested or original documents of their properties to the bureau within 15 working days for redressal of their grievances. The notice said the bureau had received multiple complaints against the owner(s) and management of the housing project for cheating the public at large, particularly offering plots which don’t even exist.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021