NAB prosecutor says Ahad Cheema ‘gifted’ 32 kanals to relatives

–Court extends physical remand of for LDA DG, Shahid Shafiq by 15 days

LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday extended the physical remand of former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheem and Bismillah Engineering Company CEO Shahid Shafiq by 15 days, as a NAB prosecutor told the court that the top bureaucrat had ‘gifted’ 32 kanals of land to his family members.

Earlier, Cheema and Shafiq were presented in the accountability court hearing the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam after their physical remand ended.

During the hearing, the prosecution alleged that Cheema handed over the contract to Bismillah Company in return for 32 kanals of land. The prosecution further alleged that the land was transferred to numerous family members of Cheema, including his sister and cousin.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Warris Janjua told the court that 8 kanals of the total land were transferred to Ahad Cheema, 8 kanals to his sister Saeeda Manzoor, eight were given to his brother Ahmed Saeed Cheema, and eight were given to his cousin Asad Cheema.

NAB arrested Ahad Cheema and Shahid Shafiq last month after alleged corruption worth billions of rupees was detected in a deal between the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) and Bismillah Engineering Company in relation to the Ashiana Housing Scheme.

NAB has alleged that Cheema abused his power as the LDA DG and awarded the contract of Ashiana Housing Scheme to Lahore Casa Developers (LCD) and Bismillah Engineering, which were not eligible for the project.

Later, the bureau had arrested Shahid Shafiq over corruption allegations after Ahad Cheema identified him. The company was given a contract of Rs12 billion despite being in the C-4 category.

Shafiq was accused of submitting fake documents, obtaining construction deal of Ashiana Scheme without financial close, and failing to complete the project, causing a loss of almost Rs 1 billion to the government.