A parliamentary panel on Wednesday grilled the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for its inability to trail Rs700 million allegedly swindled out of depositors by Natover Leasing Company and demanded the authority to come up with a report in two weeks.
Testifying before a sub-committee of Senate Standing Committee on Finance, NAB Director Toheedul Hasan admitted that the authority could not make any progress in the case despite ordering an inquiry in May 2010. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the equity market regulator, has referred the case of Rs700 million of 1,600 depositors embezzled by Natover Leasing Company to the NAB.
Nadeem Sheikh, owner of the company, established a subsidiary firm NIPL and started taking deposits by using the infrastructure of Natover. SECP Chairman Mohammad Ali said that taking deposits by NIPL was a criminal offense.
Sheikh lured the depositors by offering them 18 per cent return. He then deposited the amounts in NIPL accounts and then transferred it to his personal accounts.
NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Director Gohar Ali Shah told the committee that NAB has no trail of the money. He said the authority has so far discovered 54 accounts of Sheikh and his family and frozen assets worth Rs250 million.
Thoheedul Hasan said that NAB chairman ordered the K-P chapter to reactivate the case and recover the money.
Meanwhile, SECP chairman said that four bills pending in the parliament would plug the loopholes in the existing laws. He said the government might call a joint session of the parliament next week in which demutualisation bill could be passed.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2012.
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