The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif in the investigation of Ashiana Housing and power company cases on August 20.
Shehbaz has already appeared before NAB in connection with these cases, while former Lahore Development Authority chairman Ahad Cheema, a close aide of the former Punjab CM, remains in the custody of the accountability watchdog.
Last month, a NAB team also arrested senior bureaucrat Fawad Hassan Fawad in various corruption cases, including the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme case. Reports circulating in the media suggest that the summons issued to Shehbaz on Wednesday were in view of the revelations made by Fawad during interrogation.
NAB is investigating charges that the contract for the low-cost Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme was awarded in violation of rules. The NAB team maintains that the contract for the housing scheme was won by one Chaudhry Latif and Sons, but the Rs14 billion contract was given instead to Lahore Casa Developers – a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, owned by then Railways Minister Saad Rafique. Fawad, who was implementation secretary to the chief minister at the time, apparently forged charges of wrongdoings against Chaudhry Latif and Sons to facilitate the award of contract to Casa Developers. Fawad is also accused of illegally ordering the shifting of nine CNG stations, working in a private bank from 2005 to 2006 without official permission, and acquiring six mobile health units purchased at a higher-than-market rate while serving as the provincial health secretary. Fawad is also being probed for possession of assets beyond known sources of income.
Published in Daily Times, August 9th 2018.
