ISLAMABAD: In a significant development one of the active members of the joint investigation team — which was formed by the Supreme Court to investigate the finances of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and members of his family in the Panama Papers case — has been appointed director general of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Rawalpindi region, the office which is dealing with corruption references against Mr Sharif and other top politicians and bureaucrats.

The decision regarding the posting of Irfan Naeem Mangi from the office of Balochistan NAB to Rawalpindi/Islamabad was made by NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Tuesday, a notification said.

Under the same reshuffle in the NAB’s hierarchy, Rawalpindi DG Nasir Iqbal has been transferred as Prevention and Awareness Wing DG of NAB.

An official, Farooq Awan, has been made Training and Research Wing DG , Mirza Muhammad Irfan Baig has been transferred as Balochistan DG and Farman Ullah has been made Khyber Pakhtunkhwa DG.

The six-member JIT was formed in May. It presented its final report to the apex court on July 10, 2017, suggesting three separate references against the Sharifs.

It is believed that the transfer of Mr Mangi may not be a welcome decision for the Sharifs.

It is expected that the Rawalpindi NAB may now pursue the cases against the Sharifs more vehemently.

A NAB official said that the chairman made these postings and transfers purely on the basis of performance of the DGs.

It has been learnt that the chairman was unhappy with the performance of the former Rawalpindi DG as during his term the progress of many important cases had slowed down.

Media reports suggest that the former Rawalpindi DG has close relations with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and that he was a very influential official in NAB during the tenure of former chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.

Mr Mangi is said to be one of the most competent officers of the bureau. He had played an important role in the completion of the JIT report in the Panama Papers case.

Mr Mangi is a regular officer of NAB currently serving in Grade 20 as director general of Balochistan NAB. He was appointed as Balochistan DG in May last year.

Before this posting, Mr Mangi has served as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa NAB DG and DG (operations) in the NAB headquarters.

Mr Mangi has expertise in probing white-collar crimes and a few months ago he completed a national management course for his promotion to Grade 21. He had also completed many international courses on white-collar crimes.

An insider in NAB said that the motive behind the transfer of Mr Mangi to the Rawalpindi region was to expedite a number of important cases, including references against the Sharifs and the two former prime ministers of Pakistan Peoples Party, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The NAB Rawalpindi region is also dealing with a number of private housing societies and now it is expected that Mr Mangi would take those societies to task which were allegedly violating the laws and involved in cheating the public at large.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2018