The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to investigate former Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Ali Jehangir Siddiqui over charges of alleged corruption in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam, media report said on Friday.
According to sources, the anti-graft body, after completion of the inquiry against Ali Jehangir, has decided to transform it into an investigation.
“Soon an approval will be sought from the NAB chairman in this regard,” well-informed sources said.
The former ambassador is facing charges of alleged corruption in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing scam along with the former federal secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad.
The NAB has availed evidence showing his partnership with Fawad Hasan Fawad. Sources further said that the accountability watchdog could issue arrest warrants for Siddiqui over his non-cooperation. Ali Siddiqui has appeared before the NAB only twice despite being summoned several times.
Former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, former federal secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad, former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheema and others are already facing the charges of financial irregularities in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme.
According to the NAB, “The contract for the housing scheme was won by a construction company Chaudhry Latif & sons but former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and his aides awarded the Rs 14bn contract to Lahore Casa Developers – a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, which is said to be owned by former Railways Minister Saad Rafique”. As per the law, it is illegal to make any agreement above Rs 150m with a single company. “Fawad Hasan Fawad, who was the implementation secretary to the then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif at the time, levelled charges of wrongdoings against Chaudhry Latif & sons so that the contract to be awarded to Casa Developers,” the anti-graft body claimed.
It was due to the hired company’s incompetence that the project could not be completed in a three-year duration which brought upon a loss of Rs 640m to the government, NAB officials added.
Published in Daily Times, January 5th 2019
