ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Wednesday initiated another corruption inquiry against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif. It also decided to review the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the committee constituted by the government in connection with the Pakistan International Airlines-owned Roosevelt Hotel based in New York as per law.
The decision to this effect was taken in the NAB's Executive Board Meeting (EBM) presided over by the NAB Chairman former Justice Javed Iqbal, said a senior official of the NAB.
He said the meeting okayed filing of two corruption references and eight inquires and also decided to close corruption investigation against former finance minister Ishaq Dar and others, due to lack of evidence.
He said that the meeting decided to start corruption inquiry against former chief minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Riaz Lal G, and others, and Ali Sher Mehsud, and others, Malik Ahmad Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Public Private Partnership Authority and others, officers and officials of the Rawalpindi Development Authority and others, Asadullah Faiz Joint Secretary Ministry of Health, Islamabad, officers and officials of Small Dams Organization and others, management of National Food Security and Research, Islamabad, and others.
The official said that the EBM also reviewed the closure of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, USA, after 100 years, and decided to review the ToRs of the committee set up by the government in accordance with the law.
The official said that the NAB's EBM also closed corruption inquiry regarding tax affairs against Ishaq Dar, former minister for finance, chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and others, Akram Khan Durrani, former Minister of Housing and Works, officers and officials of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and others, the Board of Directors and administration of the National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) and inquiries against others, officers and officials of Irrigation Department and others, and Nasir Mahmood Abbasi were closed due to lack of evidence.
The anti-graft body decided to file corruption reference against Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, former chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) and others.
The accused were allegedly involved in restoring of two cancelled commercial plots by misusing their authority, which incurred losses of Rs200 million to the national exchequer.
The bureau fields another reference against Liaquat Ali Khan, former Director General Parks and Horticulture, Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), and others.
The accused by misused their authority allotted a welfare plot at Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim Clifton, Karachi, which caused huge loss to the national exchequer.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021