Exit control list: NBP scam accused on no-fly list, Senate panel told

Committee also informed that ECP members were ‘illegally’ paid Rs419m.

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has placed the names of the accused in a Rs18.5 billion scam on the Exit Control List (ECL), an official of the bureau said on Thursday.

Giving a periodical briefing to Senate Standing Committee on Finance on the status of a scam in the Bangladesh branch of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), NAB Director Operations Irfan Mangi said that all the main accused have been placed on the ECL.

The committee was also informed that the finance ministry has illegally paid Rs419 million to four members of the Election Commission of Pakistan in lieu of their salaries, although there was no such legal provision.

The NBP development suggests that the bureau was handling the pressure from the power corridors well, as few top officials of the NBP, who are said to be close to the rulers, were under direct scrutiny.

Despite the committee’s insistence, the NAB official did not disclose the names of those who have been placed on the ECL. In the next meeting, the standing committee has asked the NAB to share the names of those persons whose names have been placed on the ECL.

To a question by committee chairman Senator Saleem Mandviwalla about whether incumbent NBP President Syed Iqbal Ashraf’s name was also on the ECL, the bureau official said that the NAB was looking into the roles of all the presidents.

In January 2014, The Express Tribune had first reported the scam. At that time, the misappropriation was estimated at over Rs11 billion, which later swelled to Rs18.5 billion. Mangi said that during the inquiry period the NAB confirmed that the losses amounted to over Rs18.5 billion.

ECP members’ salaries

The Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) also submitted details of salaries paid to the four members of the ECP since June 2011. According to the statement, the AGPR paid Rs419 million to four members in salaries and allowances from June 2011 to the date.

The standing committee has already termed these salaries ‘illegal’, as there is no law that authorises such payments.

Details showed that on an average each member got roughly Rs1.8 million monthly salary – a figure that was almost double than what the committee was earlier informed.

Justice (retd) Riaz Kiyani got Rs104 million in last almost five years in lieu of salary. Each of the other three members got Rs102.1 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2016.