Off the hook: NAB drops probe against Sindh finance minister, secretary

Executive board says complaint verification lacks incriminating evidence

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Board Meeting (EBM) has decided to close probe against Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah and Secretary Finance, Sindh, Sohail Rajput, a statement said on Wednesday.

The EBM decided to close complaint verification against Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah and Secretary Finance, Sindh, Sohail Rajput due to lack of incriminating evidence, the statement said.

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The EBM held with NAB chief Qamar Zaman Chaudhry in chair decided to file supplementary reference against Mufti Ehsanul Haq and 36 others in the Rs8 billion Modaraba scam.

The meeting also decided to authorise three investigations. First investigation was authorised against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ex-minister for revenue Syed Murid Kazim and others for illegal transfer of state land in Dera Ismail Khan. Second probe was authorised against officers and officials of Revenue Department and others for illegal allotment of 530 acres of state land to private persons and misuse of authority thus causing loss of around Rs5.30 billion to the
national exchequer.

Third investigation was authorised against officers of Pakistan Tobacco Board for misuse of authority in purchasing land for the Tobacco Research Station at exorbitant rates thus causing loss of Rs33.2 million to the national exchequer. The EBM decided to authorise opening of six inquiries.

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The meeting approved application of Voluntary Return (VR) submitted by Muhammad Wali, ex-chief executive of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company amounting to Rs31.5 million. In this case, the accused person is alleged for accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income.

The EBM was informed that a case against officers of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) regarding fraudulent and ghost employment in KMC was investigated by FIA. The EBM decided to transfer the case from FIA to NAB under 16(A) of NAO 1999 from Banking Court to Accountability Court. In this case the accused persons were alleged for illegal and fraudulent opening of bank accounts in the name of different people for crediting bogus and fake salaries obtained from KMC.

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At the end, NAB chairman said the bureau is committed to eradicating corruption from the country by adopting a zero tolerance policy.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2015.