NAB yet to determine NBP president’s role in abetting Dar

Details about the NBP president emerged when a reference was filed in an accountability court

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is yet to determine how the president of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and others allegedly ‘aided and abetted’ Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in accumulating assets in a short time.

Details about the NBP’s president and CEO Saeed Ahmed emerged when a reference was filed in an accountability court in the federal capital.

The reference, filed by the anti-graft body, stated: “Investigation to the extent of the roles of Saeed Ahmed or other persons in aiding and abetting the accused in acquisition of the stated properties is under progress.”



NAB stated that the accused had refused to appear before its investigators when they summoned him, informing them that he had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its July 28 order and advising it to keep its investigation pending till the petition was decided.

An ‘Interim Reference’ was filed in compliance with the apex court order, NAB said. The bureau stated that the reference was based on material collected by the JIT, FIA and NAB till date.

NAB also stated that it reserved the right to file a supplementary reference if additional evidence surfaced. According to the petition, Dar acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his own name or in the name of his dependents exceeding Rs831 billion.



Investigations, NAB stated, had proved that his assets did not match his known sources of income and he had even refused to answer questions or provide information to the bureau in this regard.

As a result, NAB said, he committed ‘corruption and corrupt practices’ as defined under the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999.

While refereeing to the JIT report, NAB maintained that Dar “owned, controlled, and possessed assets and funds in his own name, in the name of his dependents or companies controlled by them”. 

Maryam, Safdar named in Avenfield reference

NAB moved to include the names of Maryam Nawaz and Capt (retired) Muhammad Safdar along with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz in the reference about Avenfield Properties.

The former prime minister and his sons had already been named in three references ­-- ‘Avenfield Flats’, ‘Flagship Investment Limited and 15 other companies’ and ‘Al-Azizia Company Limited, Jeddah and Hill Metals Establishment, Jeddah’.



Maryam and Safdar have only been named in the Avenfield reference.

NAB stated that it conducted an investigation and submitted its report along with the reference in the accountability court.

The accused were summoned but they told NAB to postpone its investigation, contending that they had filed a review petition in the SC.

NAB said that the JIT had requested Mutual Legal Assistance from foreign countries, adding that their response was still awaited.

NAB stated that it reserved the right to file supplementary references “as and when it gets foreign assistance in the Panamagate scandal”.