ISLAMABAD - Two PPP stalwarts - former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and former federal minister Makhdoon Amin Faheem - have come under the radar of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as the bureau on Wednesday decided to file a reference against the former in the RPPs case and to verify a complaint against the latter.
NAB in its executive board meeting (EBM) decided to file a reference in another Rental Power Plant (RPP) case against Raja Pervez, two former federal secretaries and the directors of the Turkish company, Karkey, besides other important government functionaries.
The board meeting was chaired by NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.
In another case, the Board also authorized a Complaint Verification (CV) against Makhdoom Amin Faheem on charges of accumulating assets beyond the known sources and means.
The meeting decided to file reference in the RPP case against filing of reference against Babar Zulqarnain, director Karkey, and public office holders and top-level bureaucrats of last PPP regime. The accused included Raja Pervez, two former secretaries of Ministry of Water and Power namely Ismail Qureshi and Shahid Rafi, former MDs of PEPCO including Fazal Ahmad and Tahir Basharat Cheema, members of PECPO Board, former MD of PPIB Fayyaz Elahi and present MD PECPO N.A. Zuberi, three CEOs of Lakhra Power Generation Company Limited (LPGCL - GENCO) besides others.
NAB in its enquiry had concluded that accused M/s Karkey (through its directors), government officials and public office-holders, acting in collusion with each other, committed a series of illegal and unlawful acts such as flouting the decisions of the federal cabinet and misleading the cabinet. NAB has held that accused misled the then Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) by misrepresenting and concealing facts, changing the bid evaluation criteria, making post-bid changes in violation of PPRA rules and extending illegal mobilization advance resulting in undue and illegal benefits to the sponsors i.e. M/s Karkey.
NAb has written in its finding that in this case an amount of $128 million with markup (due from Karkey as determined by Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan) and Rs.792.7 million (on account of miscellaneous infrastructure cost) are to be recovered from the sponsors and various government functionaries.
The Board also authorized to convert an inquiry into investigation against Tariq Awan, Secretary Workers Welfare Board, KP. He is alleged to have awarded scholarships to fake / non-entitled persons.
The EBM authorized five inquiries, first against Asfand Yar Kakar, ex-minister for food Balochistan, Ali Bux Baloch, ex-secretary food Balochistan and others. The accused are alleged for embezzlement in wheat procurement at District Killa Abdullah Balochistan and causing a loss of Rs. 292.878 million to the exchequer.
Two inquiries against officers and officials of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and others have also been authorised for illegally awarding advertising contract to M/s Midas Pvt Ltd in violation of PPRA rules and for making illegal appointments as well as doling out duplicate/fake payments to ineligible people thereby causing huge loss to the national exchequer.
Two inquiries were authorized in bank loan default cases referred by State Bank of Pakistan, first against M/s Kashmir Textile Mills Limited and its Directors/Guarantors defaulting an amount of Rs. 126.972 million of the UBL. The other inquiry of loan default case has been authorized against Humayon Naseer Sheikh in BoP case on default of Rs 77.446 million.
The Chairman directed heads of Regional NABs and Prosecution Division for expeditious completion of inquiries/investigations and follow-up of cases in the concerned courts.