ISLAMABAD - National Accountability Bureau chairman on Sunday made it loud and clear that the institution he was heading at the moment, recovered looted money to the tone of Rs 200 billion during 2012. Speaking to media on Sunday, the soft spoken Chairman NAB Admiral (R) Fasih Bukhari said NAB intervened into the projects and procurements worth Rs1.5 trillion and saved Rs 200 billion of public money during 2012.“We, the officers and workers of Nab, are well-committed to revoke corruption before it happens. This had been manifested by Bureau’s intervention in high profile cases involving huge money because the small-scale cases needs to be tackled by the FIA and anti-corruption establishment, police and the departments which have their own courts like customs and taxation.“Currently, we are running our affairs with 28 per cent strength of manpower. Though we have recruited 260 new investigators, deficit yet exists,” the chairman NAB said. He said training of new officers will take another six months and would further strengthen the force. Forty, out of these 260 investigators, will be sent abroad for further training on the basis of their performance and NAB has sought cooperation of FBI and the investigation and anti-corruption agencies of the European Union. Replying to a question, Bokhari said today’s NAB is different from the one headed by General (r) Amjad who had full backing of the army.“At that time, NAB recovered Rs 180 billion from tax and loan defaulters as the main force behind that recovery was the pressure of the armed forces. Later, the NAB recovery dropped to a single digit. But, despite having no such backing, NAB has recovered Rs 25 billion during last year,” he said.Dispelling the impression that NAB was still being used as a tool for political victimisation, he said the Bureau always worked independently and would continue to execute its assigned functions. To a question as to why the NAB investigation was slow, the chairman said the financial crimes investigation was highly complex and complicated. “White-collar criminals are highly intelligent and savvy in financial dealings and regulations. Finding a prosecutable evidence to secure conviction under our current outdated Evidence Act is time consuming. Current investigators also need modern training,” Fasih maintained.“Dealing with white-collar crimes is not as easy as it seems to be. Unfortunately we are not having innovative and advanced expertise to prove and investigate the forensic evidence,” he remarked. “Though the investigation is a time-consuming process, we are striving hard to complete the probe as early as possible.”“I have already directed NAB operations and prosecution wings to actively pursue all high profile cases including RPPs and Ogra so as the references could be filed if sufficient court-worthy evidence is available,” Bukhari said.About the suo motu taken by the NAB on tax evasion of telecom companies, Bukhari said the case was under investigation and its findings would be shared with the media as it reaches to its logical conclusion.“Let me tell you NAB will not spare any corrupt individual or institution. Cellular companies are more important for electronic and print organisations for being their biggest clients,” he commented urging media groups to highlight their corruption about tax evasion.When questioned, regarding the scrutiny of election candidates, the NAB chief said the relevant wings of NAB had been directed to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan in holding upcoming elections in a free, fair and transparent manner, adding an election cell had also been set up at NAB headquarters and provincial regional offices.He said the NAB would provide the ECP details of the convicts, cases of plea bargain (PB) and bank loan default referred under Section 31-C. NAB will also report to the ECP that whether the inquiry, investigation and trial was completed through plea bargain (PB) or voluntary return (VR).