An accountability court on Saturday acquitted former chairman National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) Ayaz Khan Niazi and three others in scam relating to land in Lahore.
Other acquitted suspects include NICL's former chief financial officer Muhammad Zahoor, former general manager real estate Syed Zahid Hussain and former director Amin Qasim Dada.
The court in its detailed verdict observed that prosecution failed to prove on record any evidence against the suspects. "Therefore, this court has no other option except to acquit the accused persons," said the verdict, adding there was nothing incriminating evidence even against two co-suspects Mohsin Habib Warraich and Javed Syed.
The court discharged bail bonds of the suspects and also cancelled warrants of arrest, if any, against Habib Warraich and Javed Syed.
The NAB alleged that Warraich's company, Messrs Privilege, purchased 803 kanals from the NICL at Mauza Toor, Lahore, for a sum of Rs 1.68 billion. The company allegedly sold the land without getting the property mutated in its favour.
The NICL also sold land measuring 20 kanals near the Lahore Airport Road to Mohsin Warraich for Rs 1.7 billion. It sold the land at a rate of Rs 5.3 million per kanal, although its market value was much higher.
Initially, the scam was being investigated by Federal Investigation Agency and later it was transferred to the NAB in 2014 on the directions of Supreme Court.
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