Hameshs remand extended

LAHORE - An Accountability Court on Tuesday extended judicial remand of Hamesh Khan, Sheikh Afzal and Seth Nisar for 14 days further, accused in Bank of Punjab Rs. 9 billion scam. On Tuesday, NAB authorities were found once again failed to produce the challan against all the accused as the court ordered the NAB officials concerned to submit the supplementary challan against the accused on next fixed date March, 21. The court has directed NAB official to produce supplementary challan against accused and accused were shifted back to jail after the remand. According to case details, On September 27, 2007, NAB Punjab had filed a reference in an accountability court against 12 people including six officials of Bank of Punjab (BoP) and six others accused of Rs 9 billion fraud. The investigation showed that accused Shaikh Muhammad Afzal, the director of the Haris Steel, with co-accused Muhammad Munir, Ali Ijaz, Abid Raza and Irfan Ali, in connivance with BoP ex-president Hamesh Khan, Haroon Aziz, Azizul Hameed, Muhammad Shoaib Qureshi, ex-general managers BoP Muhammad Adil Khan, Muhammad Nauman Arif and Muhammad Ziaul Haq, allegedly opened 23 fictitious accounts by their fake and forged national identity cards and obtained loans of approximately Rs 9 billion from 2005 to 2007 with the help of fake documentation, bogus collaterals, fictitious guarantees and mortgage deals executed by fake persons. In this reference, NAB has accused Hamesh of misuse of power and sanctioning illegal loans of worth Rs. 9 billion. While Seth Nisar has been accused of committing willful default of Rs. 930 million he borrowed from the Bank of Punjab.

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