Broadsheet didn’t apologise to Nawaz, claims NAB chief

ISLAMABAD:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday was shocked when the chief of the county’s anti-graft body claimed that the man who had apologized to former premier Nawaz Sharif was not affiliated with the UK-based asset recovery firm, Broadsheet LLC.

Without naming Kaveh Moussavi, the CEO of asset recovery firm Broadsheet, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said the firm had not apologised to Nawaz and the person who had done so was somebody else.

 “Basically, he [Moussavi] has no connection with Broadsheet.”

The revelation came during a PAC meeting when PML-N’s leader Khawaja Asif asked Iqbal if he could share the breakdown of Broadsheet inquiries over the years.

Iqbal replied that he was ready to provide a complete breakdown of Broadsheet inquiries, but asked that the report of the Broadsheet Inquiry Commission, prepared by Supreme Court’s Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed Sheikh, be read first as it had addressed the issues in detail.

He added that if anything was left to be answered, then he would do so.

Asif noted that the head of Broadsheet had apologised to Nawaz on the grounds that the firm could not find anything against him. Iqbal denied that Broadsheet had apologised.

When Asif emphasised that the man had been associated with Broadsheet for a long time, Javed replied that he did not want to go into details and interfere in politics.

A few seconds later, Javed assured Asif that he would satisfy the query by providing each and every detail but once again asked to read the commission’s report. He also clarified that Broadsheet was contacted years before he took charge as the NAB chairman.

Admitting the fact, Asif said he wanted to know how many cases were registered, investigations ordered, convictions secured, and how much money was recovered with the help of Broadsheet.

“I just want these few details,” Asif said.

Iqbal quipped that the details being sought would be enough for writing a book, assuring that he would provide them.

Moussavi had recently issued an apology to the PML-N supreme leader through a video interview with a private TV channel over allegations of corruption. “We found a lot of plundered wealth [linked to others], but I can categorically state after virtually 21 years of investigation that not one rupee was related to Mr Nawaz Sharif or any member of his family. If anyone says otherwise they are lying,” he had said.

Iqbal also spoke about the suggestion that the new government should disband NAB or amend the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance (NAO), 1999. He said the amendments were always proposed keeping personal interests and cases in view.

Also read: FIA to ‘investigate NAB’ in Broadsheet scandal

The NAB chairman urged that his suggestions based on his experiences should also be taken if it was finally decided that the law should be amended. “Amendments to the NAB law should be based on how much help would it provide in eradicating corruption,” Iqbal added.

“The reason for changing the law shouldn’t be that who would receive how much benefit.”

Recently, PML-N senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had urged the new government to dissolve NAB, saying that its chairman was “fully under the control” of former premier Imran Khan.

Abbasi had advised the government to end NAB and hold its officials accountable for allegedly torturing and looting people for years during the PTI regime.

In response to a question by PAC Chairman Rana Tanveer, the NAB chief said it was a “false impression” that the anti-graft body favoured plea bargaining by taking only half or little amount of money from the accused.

“The final authority rests with the court in plea bargain cases. Whatever was taken from the accused parties was with the court’s approval.”

Iqbal also denied the allegation that the accused were still in service despite opting for plea bargain. “NAB communicates every court order to the relevant authorities.” He, however, added that NAB was not the implementing authority.

On Tanveer’s claim that NAB was involved in political engineering, Iqbal challenged that a single case be pointed out where the anti-graft body’s involvement in this practice was evident.

Tanveer, while naming a few scandals like the LNG, wheat, sugar and medicines, said there should not be targeted inquiries and they should be transparent.

It was also agreed that NAB would provide details of “looted money” by public office-holders and recoveries made in such cases at the next meeting.

The NAB chairman told the PAC that the anti-graft body had recovered a total of  Rs821 billion, including Rs500.650 indirect recoveries, Rs198.057 billion bank loan defaults, Rs45.914 of court fines and Rs76.952 via voluntary returns and plea bargaining.