Ameer Haider Khan Hoti’s assistant to pay Rs 258.75 in plea bargain
Mashood rubbishes allegations, says he will return to Pakistan on Dec 7 and face NAB
NAB’s executive board meeting also authorises investigations against officials of Capital Development Authority, National Highway Authority, Board of Revenue, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan and others;
Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has been under investigation for years for by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but it seems that more difficult days may be ahead for the former PM as NAB has authorised several inquiries against him.
But it was another name that popped up in the Executive Board Meeting (EBM) of NAB on Thursday that raised some eyebrows. Punjab Minister Rana Mashood had the dubious pleasure of being the first sitting minister of the ruling PML-N to face a probe by the national accountability body.
The Executive Board Meeting (EBM) of NAB authorised several investigations against Raja Pervez Ashraf while additional inquiries were approved against Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan and officials of Capital Development Authority (CDA), National Highway Authority (NHA), Board of Revenue (BOR), Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM) and others.
The EBM also approved the Plea Bargain (PB) of Syed Masoom Shah, special Assistant to former chief minister KP Ameer Haider Khan Hoti. Shah has agreed to pay Rs 258.75 million to NAB in a case involving assets beyond known sources of income.
PERVEZ ASHRAF CASES:
The first investigation was authorised against M/s Reshma Power Generation (Pvt) Limited and others including Raja Pervez Ashraf, former secretary water and power Shahid Rafi and others. The persons named in the case are accused of corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority in award of 220 MW rental power project (RPP) contract to M/s Reshma Power Generation Limited (RPGL) near Manga, Raiwind Road within the jurisdiction of LESCO, causing loss of Rs 892.609 million to the national exchequer.
The second investigation was authorized against M/s Young Gen Power Ltd., Raja Pervez Ashraf, Shahid Rafi, PEPCO MD Fazal Ahmad Khan, former NPGCL CEO Rafiq Butt, former NPGCL finance director Ejaz Babar and others. In this case, the persons under probe are accused of corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority in award of 150 MW rental power project to M/s Young Gen Power Ltd at Satiyana Road, Faisalabad causing a loss of Rs 435.7 million to the country.
The third investigation was authorised against officials of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM) including Vice Chancellor (VC) AWKUM Dr Ihsan Ali, former registrar Prof Sher Ali Khan, former director planning and development Dr Muhammad Amin, former AWKUM controller examination Pir Abdul Jabbar and others.
In this case, the accused persons are suspected of being involved in misuse of authority in appointing 700 employees both in teaching and non-teaching cadres without without following the proper protocol.
The fourth Investigation was authorized against officials of Board of Revenue (BOR), Land Utilization Department (LUD), Sindh, CDGK and others. In this case, the accused persons were allegedly involved in fake allotment of an amenity plot (6 acres) in Deh Dih Na Class 24 by tempering documents and illegally changing the status of land from industrial to industrial/residential without approval from chief minister Sindh, the competent authority. This caused the loss of Rs 200 million in taxpayer money.
RANA MASHOOD CASE:
The EBM authorised an inquiry against Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, Punjab Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan and others in a case where the suspects are accused of corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority in holding a sports festival.
Another inquiry was authorised against officers of CDA and others. In this case, CDA sold commercial plots without open auction and without following the proper procedure.
The final inquiry was authorised against the officers of NHA regarding Okara Bypass project. In this case, the suspects are under probe for unjustified payment on account of seed money of Rs200 million, over payment of Rs123.9 million on account of defective design and excess payment for inbuilt items of Rs33.5 million and extra expenditures of Rs 53.1 million due to removal of toll plaza from approved contract. All told, the suspects may have caused the loss of Rs 410 million to the national exchequer.
The EBM also decided to authorise complaint verification against officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in issuance and subsequent withdrawal of Circular N. 6 of 2009 as well as SRO 1003 of 2011 issued by the Board.
Talking to Pakistan Today from London, Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan said that the accusation of him having embezzled billions of rupees through Youth festivals was baseless and fabricated. He said that the total budget of the festival under question was around Rs 350 million and questioned how he could have embezzled a billion rupees out of Rs 350 million. He said that allegation that he embezzled a billion rupees from the combined funds of the three Youth festivals was similarly without basis as the three festivals had the budgets of Rs 120 million, Rs 340 million and Rs 540 million, which he pointed out, was still under Rs 1 billion.
He said that an audit had been conducted into the festivals and no objections had been raised by the auditor general of Pakistan (AGP). Mashood said that he would be returning to the country on December 7 and would be seeking legal remedy.
