NAB grills LWMC board member

Questions Mehar Ishtiaq for allegedly granting contracts illegally

LAHORE: Former Lahore Waste Management Company’s (LWMC) board of governors member Mehar Ishtiaq was quizzed by a team of National Accountability Bureau Lahore (NAB) for more than two hours on Monday.

A joint investigation team probed alleged embezzlement in the company and also handed him a questionnaire to be filled and submitted.

The team questioned him over the illegal grant of contracts of the company as it had caused losses of millions of rupees to the national exchequer.

In the case, NAB summoned other members of the board of governors such as Nasir Javed on Tuesday (today), Khawaja Salman Rafique Wednesday (tomorrow), Nadeem Babar on June 19 and Khawaja Hassan Ahmad on June 20.

Meanwhile, Ex-DC Lahore Capital Muhammad Usman also appeared before NAB in the Lahore Parking Company (LePark) corruption case. He had been summoned to assist the bureau in the scam. An investigation team of NAB questioned him for over an hour and also received a questionnaire after getting it filled regarding the matters of the company.



LWMC and LePark were among 56 companies established by the government of Punjab. NAB had started investigations into these after NAB Chairperson Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal ordered a thorough probe into these on complaints of corruption, irregularities, nepotism and inefficiency. Other important companies included Punjab Saaf Pani Company, Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company, Lahore Transport Company, Multan Cattle Market Management Company, Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Board and waste management companies in various cities.

The bureau, as part of its crackdown against illegal housing societies and their embezzlement, has also initiated action against Al-Nafay Real Estate Private limited.

It has issued a public notice to invite the victims of the real estate company to submit their claims of embezzlements to NAB. “Al-Nafay Real Estate Private Limited and others have been accused of looting money from public by defrauding them in the name of purchase and sale of property. The victims in this regard are directed to submit their claims attached with CNIC, payment receipts, and other evidences within 30 days.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2018.