An accountability court, yesterday, sentenced the suspect in the Bank of Punjab fraud case to two-and-a-half years in prison and Rs546 million fine, said a Press Release.

Accountability court (NAB Court No 4) judge Khaqan Babar heard the Harris Steel case - dubbed as the biggest financial scam in banking history of Pakistan - against main accused Harris Afzal s/o Shiekh Afzal. The state prosecutor informed the court that the suspect illegally sold seized properties and vehicles worth Rs 540 million in Dubai on behalf of the bank.

Harris Afzal pleaded guilty before the judge, who according to the NAB law, pronounced the judgement awarding exemplary punishment to the culprit and sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison and Rs 546 million fine.

According to reports, the culprit also expressed a willingness to return the amount, after which the court issued the verdict.

This indeed has been made possible due to untiring efforts of Bank of Punjab President Naeemuddin Khan and NAB officials, who have toiled hard since 2008 when the scam surfaced and shook the very foundation of the institution. The bank was later on revamped by untiring efforts of Naeemuddin Khan and his team, who were successful in recovering about Rs 6 billion of the looted public money from Harris Group through the legal process.