Alleged embezzlement: AC fixes date for indictment of ex-chairperson of BISP

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court Islamabad on Tuesday fixed February 15 for indictment of former chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BSIP) and Pakistan Peoples Party leader, Farzana Raja, and other accused in the corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over alleged embezzlement in the BISP fund.

The Accountability Court-III Judge, Syed Ashgar Ali, while hearing the case, decided to indict Raja and other accused on February 15, and directed them to ensure their presence during the next hearing.

At the start of the hearing, the court marked attendance of the accused.

The court declared two accused including Iffat Zehra from a private company and former BISP director Shoaib Khan as proclaimed offender, due to their continuance absence from hearing.

The court issued their perpetual arrest warrants and also ordered to block their computerized national identity cards (CNICs) and directed to collect record of their properties.

During Tuesday's hearing, the NAB prosecutor provided the death certificate of an accused, Khurrum Humayun, to the accountability court.

The NAB Chairman former Justice Javed Iqbal approved the reference against the PPP leader on December 3, 2019.

The reference comprised 32 volumes and 19 persons have been nominated in the case. The bureau approved the reference for granting advertisement campaign contract to four advertising agencies contrary to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, which allegedly inflicted Rs 1.46 billion losses to the national exchequer.

According to the reference, a complaint had been received in the NAB alleging that the BISP awarded contracts to advertising agencies in 2009-10 and 2010-11 in violation of the PPRA rules, 2004.

It was further alleged in the complaint that Rs 1.657 billion was given to an advertising agency, M/s Midas (Pvt) Limited. The competent authority authorised an inquiry on May 23, 2014, which was subsequently upgraded into an investigation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021