LAHORE: One of the suspects in a multi-billion rupee scam to purchase weapons for the police has opted for a Rs195 million plea bargain, The Express Tribune learnt.
Raza Ali Khan has submitted his application to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, said insiders.
When contacted, NAB Spokesman Hafiz Muhammad Irfan confirmed Raza Ali submitted the application under Section 25(b) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999. He said that bureau had recovered almost Rs200 million in this case.
On September 24, 2014, the three-member Supreme Court bench of Justice Saqib Nisar, Justice Ather Saeed and Justice Azmat Saeed dismissed the bail application of former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) IGP Malik Naveed and Raza Ali Khan, the brother-in-law of Ghazan Hoti. The latter is the brother of former K-P chief minister Amir Haider Hoti.
NAB K-P, after receiving complaints, authorised an inquiry against K-P police officers and others for alleged embezzlement in the procurement of weapons, equipment and vehicles in 2008-10. It said the suspects violated government rules and caused huge losses to the national exchequer.
Following a request by the police department, the K-P government approved the purchase of weapons to improve law and order in the province. An amount of over Rs7 billion was released by the government for the deal. An enquiry revealed the purchase committee awarded tenders to contractors who had no previous experience of supplying weapons and payments were made in advance.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2014.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
There should not be any plea bargaining , they have siphoned off million and most likely stashed it in foreign banks in foreign countries and now they are caught and offering the measly Rs.195 millions to escape the jail term. Beside returning the loot, they must go to jail for long time and let it be an example for others to see and perhaps deter the future crooks to loot the country. The whole country is saturated with unethical officials in almost every State institution and the most corruption happened under PPP rule. The last PPP government was the most corrupt in the history of Pakistan and these criminals were part of it. To them money brings political power and political power brings in more money. For Gods sake stop this cycle if the country is ever going to progress and be a viable State in the world community. I am from Mardan and know how corrupt the Hotis has been for decades. Now hopefully some one is doing something to send these criminals to jail for a long time.