Accountability court dismisses petition seeking NBP ex-president's acquittal

Saeed Ahmed is co-accused in the NAB reference filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar

An accountability court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking acquittal of co-accused former National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Saeed Ahmed in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir presided over the hearing. The bench maintained that the case was at a conclusive stage and only two more witnesses were yet to record their statements.



On February 14, the NAB prosecutor requested the court to summon prosecution witnesses including Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) officials Sidra Mansoor and Suleman Saeed.

The reference against Dar had been fired for allegedly having assets beyond his known sources of income.

In January, the accountability court recorded statements of three witnesses, including a forensic expert who was presented as a witness by NAB.



In his statement, the witness, Muhammad Naseem, said that Ahmed’s signatures were found to be fake in seven bank accounts. He said the signatures on the bank accounts do not bear any similarity to Ahmed’s signature.

Another witness, private bank employee Muhammad Aftab, also recorded his statement and submitted documents related to two of Ahmed’s bank accounts.