ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau spokesman Nawazish Ali said that he was unaware why some quarters were quoting that the Balochistan Finance Secretary Mushtaq Ahmad Raisani had committed corruption worth Rs 40 billion. “This figure was never quoted by NAB,” he said.
The Executive Board of NAB in on Wednesday accepted the plea bargain request of Rs 2 billion by Raisani and Sohail Majeed Shah, the contractor of Khalid Lango, ex-advisor to the chief minister of Balochistan for finance.
The meeting of the NAB Executive Board was presided over by Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry. It is pertinent to mention here that in the raid on Mushtaq Raisani’s house on May 6, NAB had recovered local and foreign currency worth Rs 730 million. Prize bonds and ornaments worth Rs 70 million were also recovered from the- bureaucrat’s residence.
NAB’s move was criticized in several quarters. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan tweeted that Mushtaq Raisani, who had embezzled Rs 40 billion was let off scot-free by returning only Rs 2 billion to the public treasury. The PTI chief said that this was evident of the fact that NAB was promoting corruption.
The NAB spokesman added that the bureau should be appreciated for catching the culprit red-handed and returning the money he had embezzled to the national exchequer. He said that the law allows plea bargain to the accused during seven months of interrogation. He added, “This is the biggest plea bargain in NAB’s history.”
When enquired about the amount that Raisani had embezzled, the NAB spokesman did not provide a satisfactory answer and said that the culprit would not be allowed to take loan from any government bank for a period of 10 years.
