National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday formally launched investigations against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for granting contract of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for 15 years.
An official said that Executive Board Meeting (EBM) presided over by NAB Chairman former Justice Javed Iqbal converted an inquiry against Sharif, Abbasi and others into investigation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) scam case. He said that NAB Rawalpindi sent a report to NAB headquarters a few days ago and recommended to convert LNG scandal inquiry into investigation. It is pertinent to mention here that the Bureau had approved inquiry against Sharif and Abbasi in January this year.
The official said that NAB has so far interrogated Abbasi, former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and other suspects in the case. The Supreme Court on September 10, 2018 had directed the NAB to complete inquiry into the matter and submit its report. The case was registered in 2015 on the complaint of Shahid Sattar, an energy expert at the NAB Karachi, against Abbasi for awarding the LNG import contract which allegedly caused a huge loss to the national exchequer.
In February this year, the Supreme Court fixed a plea filed by President Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, seeking disqualification of Abbasi over alleged corruption in the award of LNG import contract. The petition requested the Supreme Court to order NAB to take action against Abbasi in this regard.
He said that the EBM also authorised filing of three corruption references in the accountability courts. The EBM approved filing of a corruption reference against former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) NTDC Tariq Qazi and others. The accused persons by misusing their authority illegally invested Rs 200 million in Trust Investment Bank which incurred loss of Rs 165.86 million to national exchequer.
The Bureau also decided to file another corruption reference against CEO Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) Javed Pervez and others. The accused persons by misusing their authority invested Rs 120 million illegally in Trust Investment Bank and incurred loss of Rs 120 million to exchequer.
The Bureau filed the third corruption reference against Dr Mujahid Kamran, former vice chancellor Punjab University, and others. The accused persons allegedly misused their authority and appointed 454 people in violation of rules and regulations and offered scholarship to their blue-eyed persons which incurred huge loss to exchequer. The Bureau also approved a total of six investigations and eight corruption inquiries.
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