A forensic expert Wednesday told the Accountability Court hearing a corruption case against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that signature on seven bank accounts opened in the name of former President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Saeed Ahmed are suspicious. Muhammad Naseem, prosecution witness and forensic expert while testifying before Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir said that signatures on seven banks accounts opened in the name of former NBP president did not match his (Saeed's) signature.
Ahmed was nominated as co-accused in the supplementary reference filed against Dar by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and was charged with opening accounts which were allegedly used by former minister (Dar). Dar has already been declared a proclaimed offender by the accountability court in the case.
According to the NAB reference, it was revealed during the course of investigation that accused Ahmed was one of the directors of Hajveri Modaraba Management Company and that 7,000 shares in Hajveri Holding (PVT) Limited were transferred in his favour by the wife of principal accused Ishaq Dar.
According to the NAB investigation, seven bank accounts opened in the name of former NBP president were, prima facie, used for the benefit of former minister and his companies. The NAB alleged that Saeed had intentionally allowed Dar to open/operate/use bank accounts in his name to protect his ill-gotten money.
Prosecutor NAB Afzal Qureshi told the court that the accused used these seven accounts for facilitating the principal accused.
Ahmed told the court that he has no information about the accounts and has no connection with them. Accused Mansoor Raza Rizvi appeared before the court while Naeem Mehmood filed an exemption application before the court which was approved by the court. Both Rizvi and Mehmood were directors of Dar's companies.
During the hearing, the court recorded the statement of prosecution witness Muhammad Aftab, a bank official. Aftab produced the record of two bank accounts of accused Saeed before the court. The court after recording the statement of Aftab adjourned the hearing of the case till January 23.
The NAB filed a supplementary reference against Dar on February 26 last. The reference comprises seven volumes and includes 24 witnesses and three co-accused namely former President NBP Saeed Ahmed, Rizvi and Mehmood.
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