Inam Akbar presented before Islamabad trial court

Accountability Court-1 judge asks authorities to present Midas CEO again on June 31

ISLAMABAD: The key accused in an advertising campaign scam – the Midas Communications owner Inam Akbar – was presented on Thursday before an accountability court, which at the last hearing had directed the Sindh home secretary to issue his production order.

Inam Akbar, who was brought from Karachi Central Jail, was presented at the Islamabad Accountability Court-2 of Judge Arshad Malik. As Judge Malik was not present, the suspect was presented before Accountability Court-1 Judge Muhammad Bashir.

Sindh Police told the court that the suspect has to be presented at an accountability court in Karachi on June 31. The court directed him to present them again in the next hearing on June 17.

Former premier Yousuf Raza Gillani, also one of the accused in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has obtained permanent exemption from attending the case hearings.

NAB had filed a reference against former PM Gillani, Inam Akbar and others for running an electronic media campaign while violating rules and regulations. The campaign of the Universal Service Fund (USF) was run on 32 television channels from April 14 through April 22, 2012.

NAB discovered suspicious payment of Rs150 million from the USF to the TV channels and asked them to present a report. In its reference, NAB said the Ministry of Information Technology former secretary Farooq Awan, the USF former CEO Riaz Asher Siddiqui, the USF’s former secretary Hasan Shaikh, Inam Akbar and the IT Ministry’s former public relations officer collectively misused authority to run the advertisement campaign through Midas Communications, causing a massive loss to the exchequer.

According to NAB, the USF held its 26th board meeting on December 28, 2011. Former PM Yousuf Raza Gillani who also held additional charge of the IT ministry and was also the USF board chairman had directed the authorities to run the advertisement campaign.

The IT Ministry former secretary Farooq Awan while abusing his powers ran the illegal campaign and caused a massive loss to the country.

Midas CEO violated directions of the Press Information Department (PID) and other rules.  The IT minister and the USF had not released any written orders for the campaign.