ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal on Sunday said that the NAB is committed to recovering looted money and apprehend all corrupt, proclaimed offenders and absconders with iron hands.
He said that NAB has approved the filing of 440 corruption references after collecting concrete evidence and apprehended 503 accused persons.
He said that the bureau had received 44,315 complaints, conducted 1,713 complaint verification, 877 inquiries and 227 investigations besides depositing Rs2580.196 million in national exchequer during the last year.
A total of 1210 references involving the corruption of Rs 900 billion are under trial in various accountability courts of the country.
“NAB has also constituted over 50,000-character building societies across the country in colleges and universities. It has established 60 Prevention Committees at the federal and provincial level, including the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Press Information Department (PID) provincial education, health, revenue, housing and cooperative departments for promoting transparency and upholding merit,” he said.
He ordered inquiries on various complaints in the last one year, including investigations against 56 public limited companies in Punjab, 435 Offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, corruption in the construction and expansion of Kachi Kanal, as well as the recovery of looted money of public from private housing societies.
“The arrest of proclaimed offenders and placing details of illegal housing societies can be found on websites of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and CDA,” he said.
The NAB chairman said that according to a Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) report, NAB enjoys the support of 42 per cent people in Pakistan.
“Similarly, a Gallop and Gillani survey has indicated that 59 per cent people have trust in NAB. World Economic Forum and Transparency International have also appropriated NAB’s performance in their reports,” he added.
He concluded by informing that NAB has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to oversee China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Pakistan and enhance cooperation in the eradication of corruption.
