An accountability court in Rawalpindi on Tuesday sentenced former Ogra chairman Tauqir Sadiq to three years rigorous imprisonment for failing to appear in a corruption reference against him. The court also issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Sadiq and ordered freezing of his assets and properties. Sadiq, the principal accused in Rs 82 billion scam, fled abroad after Supreme Court declared his appointment as Ogra chief illegal on November 25, 2011.
It ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to launch an investigation against him. Sadiq, who was sentenced in absentia, remains in the UAE and according to reports in March 2013 some influential figures in the then government had been using their clout within the country and abroad to protect the former Ogra chief.