LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency has finally transferred all the record of the multi-billion National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam to the National Accountability Bureau.

Officials told Dawn on Monday that four (NICL) corruption cases had been transferred to the accountability courts in Lahore and one in Karachi. “After thorough investigation a reference will be filed in the accountability court against the accused,” an official said.

The FIA has handed over the record of the NICL case to NAB on the direction of the Supreme Court.

There has been three parts of the case – ‘misuse’ of authority in the appointment of NICL head Ayaz Khan Niazi, hampering the investigation process and corruption committed by the accused. The NAB is likely to focus on the third part – taking the accused to task and recover the looted money.

NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry had gone on leave after the apex court verdict ordered investigation against him and others for their role in creating ‘hurdles’ in the investigation process. He assumed the charge later, after ‘nothing was established against him’.

However, the sources said the NAB would quiz its chairman, former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, former commerce secretary Salman Ghani, former secretary establishment Ismail Qureshi, former acting principal secretary to the prime minister Nargis Sethi for their role in the ‘illegal’ appointment of Ayaz Niazi.

With regard to creating hurdles in the investigation, then carried out by FIA’s Zafar Qureshi, the NAB may interrogate former director general Malik Muhammad Iqbal, former interior secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry (now NAB chief), former secretary establishment Abdul Rauf Chaudhry and former principal secretary to the prime minister, Khushnood Akhtar Lashari and FIA’s then Lahore director Waqar Haider.

Zafar Qureshi had recorded his statement with a combined investigation team declaring that Qamar Zaman had not ‘hampered’ the investigation. Ironically, Zafar’s brother Ismail Qureshi is one of the accused in this case.

Some officials in both FIA and NAB Dawn spoke to were of the view the investigators had lost the main objective of the case somewhere in determining “who appointed who and who hampered the investigation” while those committed corruption were still at large and a huge amount was yet to be recovered from them.

The main corruption accused - Mohsin Habib Warraich, the son of former state minister for defence production Major Habibullah Warraich (retired) and members of the board of NICL including Amin Qasim Dada, Javed Syed, Muhammad Iqbal Hussain, Khalid A Khan and Khawaja Akbar are still off the hook.

The story of over Rs6 billion NICL scam surfaced in 2009-10 when Mohsin Warraich’s company, Messrs Privilege, had purchased 803 kanals from the NICL at Mauza Toor, Lahore, for Rs1.68 billion. The company allegedly sold the land without getting the property mutated in its favour.

The NICL sold the land measuring 20 kanal at the Lahore Airport Road to Mohsin Warraich for Rs1.7 billion. It sold the land at the rate of Rs5.3 million per kanal although its market value was much higher.

NICL funds were also embezzled in the purchase of 10 acres of land in Korangi.