ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will file a supplementary reference against Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam on Saturday, December 22.
NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has already given the green signal to the move.
It is worth mentioning that Shehbaz and Fawad Hassan Fawad are already under NAB’s custody in the same case over charges of causing loss to the national exchequer.
According to NAB, the contract for the housing scheme was won by a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons but former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz and his aides awarded the Rs14 billion 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 law, it is illegal to make any agreement above Rs150 million with a single company.
“Fawad, who was the implementation secretary to the chief minister at the time, levelled charges of wrongdoings against Chaudhry Latif and Sons in order for the contract to be awarded to Casa Developers,” NAB officials said. “It was due to the hired company’s incompetence that the project could not be completed in three-year duration which caused a loss of Rs640 million to the government,” they added.
