Clampdown; Ehtesab Commission arrests former taxman

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission arrested former excise and taxation minister Liaqat Shabab on Thursday. He is accused of accumulating assets beyond his known sources of income.

The PPP man was K-P’s excise and taxation minister in the government from 2008 to 2012. Initially, the commission raided the house of Shabab in Nowshera on May 19, but failed to arrest him as he was not present. This is the first high-profile arrest of a lawmaker from the former provincial government which has been accused of corruption by the commission.

“We had given Shabab a form to declare his assets, which we believe are beyond his known sources of income,” Additional Deputy Prosecutor General Qazi Babar Arshad told The Express Tribune. “However, he failed to justify them after which he was arrested.”

Arshad said the suspect would be produced before the Ehtesab court on Friday (today) to obtain his physical remand.

He said the former minister purchased a number of plots, two vehicles and also had some “illegal” bank accounts. As the investigation is still open, the exact amount of alleged misappropriation is yet to be determined.

“His assets include plots, houses, bank accounts, agricultural land and vehicles. Also, there have been unjustified transactions via various bank accounts,” a press release by the commission stated. “His arrest was essential for the ongoing investigation,” it added.

The former minister had earlier approached Peshawar High Court against the commission’s enquiry, saying it was illegal as were the raids on his Nowshera residence.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.