OGRA scam: Judge extends Sadiq’s remand for 14 days

Sadiq was the main accused in the Rs82 billion Ogra scam case.

ISLAMABAD:

The Accountability Court on Friday extended former chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Tauqir Sadiq’s remand for another two weeks.

Sadiq, the main accused in the Rs82 billion Ogra scam case, appeared before the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, who ordered on Friday that the accused be sent to Adiala jail for two more weeks under judicial remand.

Earlier, in the last hearing NAB prosecutor Barrister Saeedur Rehman had informed the court that the authority had recovered Rs54.85 billion from the accused and had requested the court to extend his physical remand for ten days, however the court had rejected NAB’s plea and extended the remand for three days which expired on September 13.

The anti-graft watchdog had recovered Rs3.2 billion from the accused involved in the scam which included recovering Rs13.4 million from Mian Ashfaq, Sadiq’s business partner.

According to the interim reference submitted by NAB before the court in connection with the scam alleged that Sadiq, Mansoor Muzaffar Ali, Mir Kamal Farid Bijarani Marri, and Jawad Jameel were involved in the scam.

On November 25 last year, the apex court struck down Sadiq’s appointment as Ogra chairman.  Sadiq was brought back to Pakistan by NAB officials on July 9.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2013.