Illegal embassies sale: NAB seeks legal aid from Japanese, Indonesian govts

Says complete inquiry report will be filed as soon as response from both govts is received.

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday that it had formally sought legal assistance from the governments of Japan and Indonesia regarding alleged corruption by foreign ministry officers in the sale of Pakistani embassy buildings in Tokyo and Jakarta.

The bureau also submitted its initial inquiry report about the embezzlement allegations to the bench, presided by LHC Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, during the hearing of Dr Qaiser Rasheed’s petition against the sale of the two embassy buildings.

The report maintained that the buildings’ market values were ignored and NAB was investigating the possibility of Pakistan ambassadors receiving kickbacks from contractors. NAB has requisitioned foreign office records in this regard. It added that no prior permission for the sale had been sought from the inter-ministerial committee per the required procedure and the properties were not advertised either.

The NAB report stated that while Kamran Niaz and Maj Gen Mustafa Anwar Hussain – former ambassadors to Japan and Indonesia, respectively – had confronted the allegations and initial inquiry, their response was under scrutiny.

NAB said that since both cases involved foreign nationals’ statements and other aspects beyond Pakistan’s jurisdiction, a complete report will be filed once response from the governments of Japan and Indonesia was received.

After going through the report the LHC CJ adjourned the hearing till an, as yet, unspecified date.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2012.