Court indicts ex-LDA DG Ahad Cheema in illegal assets case

— Court extends Cheema’s judicial remand for 14 days 

LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday indicted former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheema in a case pertaining to owning assets beyond known sources of income.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore had filed the reference against Cheema in October 2018.

During the hearing, Accountability Judge Syed Najamul Hassan extended Cheema’s judicial remand for a further 14 days.

The NAB’s counsel informed the court that Cheema had accumulated assets worth Rs600 million that were not justifiable by his known sources of income. He kept these assets in the names of his wife Saima Ahad, mother Nusrat Afza, brother Ahmed Saood and sister Sadia Mansoor, the counsel added.

The court then summoned the witnesses on January 30.

The properties owned by the ex-LDA DG allegedly include several plots in various housing schemes in Lahore and Islamabad, agricultural land, flats and houses. The properties are registered in his mother, wife and other relatives’ names.

Cheema was arrested in February 2018 over charges of misusing his authority by awarding the contract of the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme worth Rs14 billion to Lahore Casa Developers that was ineligible for the same.

Previously, NAB had filed another reference against Cheema and five others in June 2018 over their alleged role in the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam case.

Cheema was arrested in February 2018 over charges of misusing his authority by awarding the contract of the Ashiana Housing Scheme worth Rs14 billion to Lahore Casa Developers that was ineligible for the same.