NAB Rawalpindi distributes Rs13.14m among victims of illegal housing schemes

Bureau conducts inquiry against thousands of plots sold and advertised illegally

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Monday distributed an amount of Rs13.141 million among 32 people. The amount has been recovered from an illegal housing society and distributed to those affected. NAB Rawalpindi Director General Irfan Naeem Mangi handed over cheques to people affected and the concerned government departments at a ceremony held in Islamabad.

According to details, in case of inquiry against Tele Town (Pvt) Ltd, Islamabad and others, the management collected Rs313 million illegally from the general public without obtaining permission from Capital Development Authority (CDA) to advertise the scheme and sold 2,330 plots during 2004-2007.       The management of Tele Town did not obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from CDA for the detailed layout of the plan.



About 200 members with an amount of approximately Rs30 million claimed a refund for the plots. The management of the society submitted an application for a plea bargain against claims pending at NAB and in this regard and plea bargain of Rs30.02 million was accepted. In phases, NAB Rawalpindi had already refunded an amount of Rs11.54 million among 50 affected people after verifying their claims. In the third phase, on Monday, five victims have been reimbursed an amount of Rs0.776 million.

In another case, investigation against Mufti Riaz Khan and others, accused Muhammad Uzair Shah who they alleged was responsible for the sale of illegal properties. The one suspect namely Muhammad Uzair Shah was arrested on February 5, 2018. He submitted original papers of his three properties located in Attock city, while 26 complainants gave statements against the arrested suspect with a total liability of Rs11.365 million. NAB Rawalpindi recovered the entire amount which was handed over to 26 affected people on Monday.

Moreover, during a different case, in an inquiry against officials of National Productivity Organisation who were working in connivance with Imperial Associates, NAB Rawalpindi recovered an amount of Rs1 million from Imperial Associates and in the second phase the same has been returned to National Productivity Organisation. In the first phase, NAB Rawalpindi already handed over Rs37 million to National Productivity Organisation.



Addressing the ceremony, NAB Rawalpindi DG reiterated that the bureau would continue pursuing corrupt elements under the leadership of NAB Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal so that the motherland could achieve the dream of corruption-free Pakistan.

NAB strongly believes in a zero tolerance policy against corruption. NAB hopes that joint efforts of all stakeholders can collaborate to keep a check on corruption and corrupt practices and stop them from happening with the help of all stakeholders. However, this practice to invest in unauthorised schemes in greed of more interest and returns on investments must be ended and discouraged. NAB Rawalpindi DG said that NAB was absolutely committed to working transparently, fairly, professionally and on merit for corruption-free Pakistan in accordance with the law.  He said that Pakistan was considered as a role model for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries in eradication of corruption due to NAB's efforts and Pakistan was the only country whose Corruption Perception Index (CPI), according to the Transparency International report, has been decreased from 175 to 116 points.  

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2018.