ISLAMABAD: Five days after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s demand that the judiciary and National Accountability Bureau dispose of mega corruption cases quickly, NAB on Thursday approved references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his ex-personal secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad, former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal, former foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Aftab Sultan.

A total of 11 references were approved at NAB’s Executive Board Meeting (EBM) presided over by its chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal. It was attended by NAB deputy chairman Hussain Asghar and other senior officials.

According to the bureau, a fresh reference was approved against Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, Aizaz Chaudhry, Aftab Sultan, and Fawad Hassan Fawad for “illegally” purchasing 73 high-security vehicles for the security of foreign dignitaries. They are accused of favouritism and illegal use of vehicles, causing a loss of over Rs1,952 million to the national exchequer.

The EBM also approved a reference against Ahsan Iqbal and Mohammad Ahmed, contractor/owner of private firm Ahmed and Sons, for increasing the scope of the Sports City project in Narowal from Rs30m to Rs3 billion by “abusing the authority”.

They are accused of illegally providing the funds of the federal government to provincial government projects after the 18th Amendment by using personal influence, which inflicted huge losses on the national exchequer.

Authorises references against Ahsan Iqbal, Fawad Hasan, Aizaz Chaudhry and former IB chief Aftab Sultan

The reference against Mr Iqbal was approved two days after he had said in a private TV talk show that NAB had been investigating the Narowal Sports City case against him for the last two-and-a-half years but did not file a reference.

Another important reference was authorised against former chief executive officer of the National Testing Service Haroon Rashid, NTS secretary Waqar Sami Khan, former NTS additional director Faizul Abrar and others for their alleged involvement in looting the public and causing a loss of Rs34.74m to the national exchequer.

The EBM approved a reference against Farkhand Iqbal, former chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA); Abdul Aziz Qureshi, former member planning and design; Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, former DG planning; Mehboob Ali Khan, director urban planning; Waqar Ali Khan, ex-director; Masoodur Rehman, former deputy director; Mohammad Ashfaq, former estate management officer; Latif Abid, ex-estate management officer; Sher Azam Wazir, former deputy director; Rahim Khan, former deputy director building control, CDA; and Syed Tehseen for their alleged involvement in commercial use of a plot meant for clinic and increasing the lease of the same property illegally, which caused huge losses to the national exchequer.

The meeting approved a reference against Sikander Javed, former project director, clean drinking water for all; Jamil Bajwa, general manager, Nespak; Iftikhar Ali, project manager, Nespak; Jehanzeb Khan, principal engineer; Shahab Anwer Khawaja, former secretary of the inter-provincial coordination ministry; and Abdul Moeed Farooqi, chief executive officer, M/s Ideal Hydrotech System. They are accused of causing a loss of Rs9.012bn to the national exchequer by abusing their authority.

The NAB board also authorised a reference against Shahid Khan, former interior secretary/ex-chairman of the National Police Foundation; Mohammad Rafique Hassan, former managing director, NPF; Tariq Hanif, former director housing, NPF; and others for their alleged involvement in abuse of authority and illegally allotting commercial plots in the NPF scheme.

The EBM authorised the filing of a supplementary reference against Waseem Ajmal, former chief executive officer, Punjab Saaf Pani Company South; and Imran Ali Yousaf, chief executive officer, M/s Ali and Fatima Developers, for allegedly acquiring an under-construction building on rent by abusing their authority, causing a loss of Rs24.7m to national exchequer.

Another reference was approved against Mohammad Usman Anwar, former DG sports; Walayat Ali Shah, former deputy director, Sports Board Punjab; Mohammad Tariq Maqsood Wattoo, former deputy director, Sports Boards Punjab; Mohammad Hafeez Bhatti, former deputy director; and others for alleged abuse of authority and misappropriation of government funds.

The EBM also authorised the filing of a supplementary reference against Iqbal Z. Ahmed, Associate Group chairman/chief executive officer, JJVL; Fasih Ahmed Raziuddin Ahmed; Asim Iftikhar, director finance, JJVL; Qazi Humayun Farid; Salamat Ali; Tariq Mehmood and Muhammad Ramzan for their alleged involvement in corruption and money laundering, which caused a loss of Rs 28.99bn to the national kitty.

The meeting authorised the filing of references against Ghulam Akbar Saho, former DG audit, government of Sindh; and Imran Ali Saho, former officer, Sindh Education Foundation, Karachi, for accumulating assets contrary to their income.

The EBM approved a reference against Nawab Mohammad Aslam Khan Raisani, former chief minister of Balochistan; Mir Lashkari Raisani; Mir Abdul Nabi Raisani; Dostain Khan; Jamaldeni, former finance secretary of Balochistan; and others. The accused in connivance with each other illegally obtained Rs808m.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2020