Rs18b corruption case: NAB arrests ex-NBP chief, four co-accused

To present them before accountability court today

KARACHI: The top graft-buster on Friday took former president of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Syed Ali Raza, along with four co-accused, into custody after the Sindh High Court (SHC) cancelled their bail in a Rs18 billion corruption case.

Raza and 16 others, including seven Bangladeshi nationals, are facing inquiry over alleged misappropriation of Rs18 billion between 2003 and 2012 at the NBP branch in Dhaka. The four arrested co-accused are Muhammad Wasim Khan, Imran Ghani, Dr Mirza Abrar Baig and Muhammad Imran Butt.

Raza and the four co-accused will be presented before an accountability court in Karachi on Saturday (today).

A two-judge bench, headed by SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, had revoked their pre-arrest bail and directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest them.

The accused stayed inside the courtroom for as long as they could to avoid being arrested by the NAB officials, who were waiting outside. Eventually, they were arrested as soon as they stepped out.



In April this year, Raza had approached the court, apprehending his arrest by the graft-buster. Granting him interim bail against a surety of Rs500,000 on April 3, the court had also issued notices to the NAB prosecutor-general to file a reply.

In his bail plea, the petitioner had argued that the inquiry was related to two bank employees, Zubair Ahmed and SM Jahanzeb, who were involved in illegal activities overseas, which caused losses worth Rs17 billion to the national exchequer.

Denying any role in the scam, Raza had contended that being the president of the bank, he was dependent on the group chiefs, who were supposed to check any irregularity on the part of the bank’s 16,000 employees.

Raza said the NAB investigation officer had, on August 21, 2015, issued him a call-up notice to appear for investigation despite the fact that he had left the bank on January 14, 2011.

Apprehending his arrest, the petitioner had requested the court to grant him pre-arrest bail.

During the course of hearings, the NAB prosecutor had argued that the governor of State Bank of Pakistan had also complained about massive embezzlement and corruption in the Bangladesh branch of the state-owned bank. Besides Raza, Bangladeshi nationals and others were also nominated in the case.



The prosecutor alleged that enough incriminating evidence was available on record to establish the role of the petitioner, Raza, and the co-accused in the scam. Therefore, he had pleaded to the court to dismiss their bail applications and revoke the interim pre-arrest bail granted to the accused.

According to background details of the case, the NAB had filed a reference with the concerned accountability court, nominating the former NBP chief and other suspects in the scam. It was alleged that the accused, including Raza, had misused their authority to grant and revise financing facilities at the NBP’s Bangladesh branch that caused a loss of $185 million to the national exchequer.

On the other hand, the bench confirmed interim pre-arrest bail granted to co-accused Qamar Hussain and Kausar Iqbal Malik.

Last month, an anti-corruption court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the accused in the $185 million corruption reference filed by NAB. However, it could not make the arrests as the SHC had already granted them pre-arrest bail.