The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to take action against former and serving officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) who are involved in scams surpassing Rs 200 billion. The NAB investigators have collected enough evidence against former and serving officials of the regulator which is enough to justify their arrest that has become necessary to complete the process of probe, sources said. The top officials of SECP are cooperating with NAB despite tremendous pressure from various quarters, they added. Those involved in the frauds include former SECP Chairman Muhammad Ali and two serving commissioners Asif Arif and Imtiaz Hyder. They have been charged with hiding facts of 2008 stock market crash in which masses lost billions while crooked brokers made fortune overnight. Moreover, they are involved in Rs 82 billion Ogra scam, harassing honest officials who wanted to bring facts to limelight, hiding personal assets, massive tax evasion, promoting interests of stock and insurance mafia, pushing insurance companies to invest in stock market and reaping benefits from top insurance companies etc. It may be mentioned that Muhammad Ali, Asif Arif and Imtiaz Hyder were appointed on the behest of powerful business lobbies by the corrupt leaders of the former government who in turn damaged the image of the corporate regulator by their highly objectionable actions.
