£190m probe accelerated against 22 politicians

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi has accelerated its investigation against 22 political leaders in the scandal involving 190 million pounds.

The bureau has sought records of vehicles, properties, and accounts of former federal ministers and cabinet members, stating that it was “conducting an investigation against the subject of persons on the allegations of corruption and corrupt practices under the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999”.

Excise secretaries of all provinces were issued letters to obtain the records of vehicles, houses, plots, and lands of 22 political leaders.

NAB has sought records of assets in the names of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pervez Khattak, Omar Ayub, Hammad Azhar, Murad Saeed, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, and Murad Raas, while the records of the properties in the name of Azam Swati, Ali Zaidi, Faisal Vawda, Ali Amin Gandapur, Shafqat Mehmood, Ghulam Sarwar, and Shireen Mazari have been requested.

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Apart from this, the details of the properties of Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Farogh Naseem, Khusro Bakhtiar, Ijaz Ahmed Shah, and others have been requested.

NAB Rawalpindi has also sought the names and transfer vehicle records of 22 former federal ministers and cabinet members, seeking the record of all the vehicles bought or sold by them from the year 2018 till now.

“In view thereof, you are requested to provide the details/ copies of certified documents of any vehicles’ sales/purchase during the period of Jan 2018 till date in the name of the following persons by June 20, 2023,” the letter states.

It should be noted that NAB is investigating the £190 million pounds scandal against former ministers and cabinet members. The said letter was reportedly issued a few days ago, and only came to light on Sunday.