ISLAMABAD - The National Accountability Bureau will file a reference in the National Bank of Pakistan’s Bangladesh branch scam within one month as it has completed its investigation.

The NAB officials gave these remarks at a meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Finance held under the chair of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla. They said NAB had completed investigation against the 16 people involved in the NBP’s scam; now the case had been sent to Karachi for minor changes.

The committee discussed Rs 18.5 billion scam in NBP’s Bangladesh branch. The NBP Bangladesh branch gave loans valuing Rs 18.5 billion without securing collaterals while the branch released securities in certain cases without recovering the loans.

The committee also discussed the case of Rs 1.5 billion fraud in Abandoned Properties Organisation, a government body. The committee was informed that the officials of National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited and Abandoned Properties Organization were involved in the fraud. They withdrew Rs 1.5 billion in 24 transactions in two years. Apart from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), State Bank of Pakistan, NBP and HBL are also holding their internal inquiries into the scam. The Senate committee directed the four departments – FIA, SBP, NBP and HBL – to submit their inquiries to the committee.

The HBL officials told the meeting that a branch manager and two officials of the bank were involved in the scam as per initial investigation.

The Senate committee showed concern over expected increase in circular debt when China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) becomes operational.

Speaking on the occasion, Mandviwalla questioned why SBP was not aware of the scam when the central bank audits all the banks every year.

Acting National Bank of Pakistan president told the committee that they had sought permission from China for opening NBP branch in China, which could take six months while the SBP had given permission in this regard.

The meeting expressed concern over the promotion policy of the NBP. The committee gave four months period to the Ministry of Finance for completing the legislation process in respect of the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) and Public Accounts.

Senator Mohsin Khan Leghari, Senator Nasreen Jalil, Senator Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hassani and officials of SBP, NBP, HBL, NAB and the Ministry of Finance attended the meeting

PAKISTAN ON COURSE TO BECOME

CORRUPTION-FREE: QAMAR

Nokhaiz Sahi adds: NAB’s efforts have helped Pakistan gain better ranking on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), anti-graft body chief Qamar Zaman Chaudhary said on Thursday.

While addressing officers of NAB Lahore after a two-day annual inspection, the NAB chief said that according to a report from Transparency International of 2016, corruption was declining in Pakistan after 2013 and the country was being considered a “role model” among South Asian countries for the steps taken by the NAB against corruption.

He said that it was a great achievement for Pakistan due to the NAB efforts.

The NAB chief said that Pakistan was on the course of becoming a corruption-free country, while the bureau was focusing on awareness and preventive measures, and enforcement of laws so that corruption could be nipped in the bud.

He said that eradication of corruption was not only our national duty but also a collective responsibility of all segments of the society. He urged NAB officers to double their efforts for eradication of corruption by adopting zero tolerance policy. He said that the NAB, since its inception, has recovered around Rs285 billion from corrupt and deposited it in the national exchequer which was a remarkable achievement for the bureau.

The NAB chairman said that the anti-graft had established its first forensic science lab in NAB Rawalpindi and has rationalize its workload and timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases putting a maximum limit of 10 months which is a challenging target to investigate cases of even white collar crimes.

The NAB has also introduced a new system of combined investigation team to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. This will not only lend quality to the work but also ensure that no single individual can influence the proceedings.

The NAB chairman said that youth was out future and the bureau has emphasized on the character-building of youth. More than 42,000 character-building societies (CBS) have been set up in universities and colleges. We have set target for 2017 that the number of CBS should reach to 50,000 to create awareness among the students of the ill effects of corruption.