Corruption charges: NAB's inquiries against ex-army officers under way since long

Inquiries and investigations by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are continuing against some retired army officers on allegations of corruption for the last several years but none has concluded so far. Ongoing NAB inquiries are against General Saeed-uz-Zafar (retd), Lieutenant-General Javed Ashraf Qazi (retd), Lieutenant-General Khalid Munir Khan (Retd), Lieutenant-General Muhammad Afzal Muzaffar (retd), Major General (retd) Khalid Zaheer Akhtar, Lieutenant-General Muhammad Afzal Janjua (retd), Brigadier Iftikhar Mehdi (retd), Lieutenant-General Obaid Ullah Khan (retd), Brigadier Asad Shahzad (retd), Major General Hamid Hassan Butt (retd) and Brigadier Akhtar Ali Baig (retd).
Some NAB officials who requested anonymity revealed that NAB filed a reference in February this year against former railways minister Lieutenant-General Javed Ashraf Qazi (retd), former railways chairman Lieutenant-General Saeed Uz Zafar (retd), former GM Railways Major General Hamid Hassan Butt (retd), former member railways Brigadier Akhtar Ali Baig (retd) and others in a Rs 2 billion corruption scam.
The four ex-military officers are accused of selling hundreds of acres of railway land in Lahore to a Malaysian company for development of the golf course 'Royal Palms Gold' and a country club at subsidized rates. The complaint was referred by the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SEP) in November 2011, he said.
According to NAB officials, the inquiry of the Rs 4 billion army-run National Logistic Cell (NLC) scam is also ongoing against former quartermasters general retired Lieutenant General Khalid Munir Khan, retired Lieutenant General M. Afzal Muzaffar, former NLC director general Major General (retd) Khalid Zaheer Akhtar and two civilians since July, 2011. The inquiry was referred by Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly to NAB, he said.
The Bureau is also conducting an investigation against Lieutenant-General Muhammad Afzal Janjua (retd), Brigadier Iftikhar Mehdi (retd), former secretary finance Balochistan Mehfooz Ali Khan and directors of M/s Allah Hu Holding Limited and officials of the Balochistan government in a case of embezzlement of Rs 243 million. NAB also authorized inquiries against former IG FC Balochistan Lieutenant-General Obaid Ullah Khan (retd) and Brigadier Asad Shahzad (retd) in cases of dubious money transactions in March this year.
NAB is also conducting an inquiry against former army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's brother, retired Major Kamran Kayani, in a Rs 165 million loan default case.
A military official on condition of anonymity told Business Recorder that the army investigates a number of corruption charges every year, and those found guilty are sent home but added that 'details cannot be shared with the media for obvious reasons'.
He said that former Army Chief General Raheel Sharif once allowed the sharing of details of dismissal of 11 military officers on corruption charges with the media, in a rare display of accountability by the institution, including Lieutenant General Obaidullah Khan Khattak, Major General Ejaz Shahid, Brigadier Rasheed, Brigadier Asad Shahzada, Brigadier Saifullah, Brigadier Amir, Lieutenant Colonel Haider and Major Najeeb.