ISLAMABAD   -   National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said that NAB is the focal institute of Pakistan under UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and is the chair of the SAARC anti-corruption forum as NAB is considered role model in SAARC countries. According to a press statement issued by the NAB headquarters here yesterday, NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said that NAB is the focal institute of Pakistan under UN Convention against Corruption and the bureau has been elected as head of SAARC anti-corruption forum which is a great success and honour for Pakistan. Transparency International Pakistan, World Economic Forum, Global Peace Canada, PILDAT, Mashal Pakistan have also appreciated NAB’s efforts. As per Gilani & Gallup survey, 59 percent of people have expressed confidence in NAB. Pakistan is the only country that has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to fight corruption.The country’s top anti-graft body’s chief said that Pakistan and China are working together to ensure transparency in the ongoing CPEC projects in Pakistan, and  NAB is the only institution in the country which,  since its inception , has recovered Rs 864 billion from corrupt elements.

NAB is the only institution in the country which has returned the recovered money to various federal, provincial agencies and affected citizens. He said that NAB has distributed Rs 25 billion among the affectees of illegal housing societies, and   NAB officers consider eradication of corruption as their national obligation. He said that NAB also devised a three-pronged strategy to eliminate corruption, which was also acknowledged as the most effective anti-corruption strategy. NAB has introduced a Combine Investigation Team (CIT) system in order to benefit from the experienced and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers, he added.

The NAB chairman said that CIT, headed by director general, included a senior and junior investigation officer, additional director as case officer, legal counsel, financial and forensic experts. CIT’s excellent results have started coming. He informed that the NAB has established its own Pakistan Training and Research Academy, which is imparting specialised training to investigation officers on modern lines to conduct investigations of cases of money laundering and white collar crimes, besides the establishment of the state-of-the-art Forensic Science Laboratory in NAB Rawalpindi for scrutinising documents and fingerprints, analysis of digital data, etc.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal made it clear that NAB has no affiliation with any political party, group or individual, and its only affiliation was with the state of Pakistan. He said that the incumbent leadership of NAB has recovered record Rs 584 billion, and the accountability courts convicted 1,504 culprits due to rigorous persuasion of NAB.