The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested five ex-senior officials of the Bank of Punjab (BoP) for allegedly giving Rs 9 billion worth of loan against exaggerated evaluation of collateral.
According to sources, in the evening the NAB arrested five senior ex-officials of the bank, including Haroon Aziz, Azizul Hameed, Shoaib Querashi, Nauman Arif and Zia-ul-Haq for interrogation over their alleged involvement in giving loans against over evaluation of collateral to three big steel companies.
It may be recalled that soon after the transition of political power in the country, the Punjab government took over the affairs of the bank and sacked its president Hamesh Khan for alleged financial irregularities. With him, many other senior officials of the bank were also sent home, including Haroon Rasheed, Azizul Hameed, Shoaib Querashi, Nauman Arif and Ziaul Haq. Also, the Punjab government took strong notice of the financial irregularities in the bank accounts, especially in its commercial loans. The case was referred to the NAB and the management of the bank handed over its record to the NAB for preliminary investigations.