ISLAMABAD: At his first executive board meeting on Thursday
after assuming charge of the office of National Accountability Bureau
(NAB) chairman, retired Justice Javed Iqbal ordered inquiries into
alleged corruption in the Multan Metro Bus Project (MMBP), the New
Islamabad Airport, the sale of PIA aircraft and money laundering
activities at the Habib Bank’s New York branch, besides taking several
other important decisions.
The meeting gave approval to eight inquiries and two investigations into various corruption cases.
Multan bus project
Recently,
a Senate panel decided to expand the scope of its investigation into
alleged corruption of $17.5 million in the Multan Metro Bus Project
(MMBP) and the transfer of money abroad, as fresh details revealed a
link between a top official of China-based Yabaite Technology Company
Limited and the Yabaite Pakistan Construction Group Private Limited.
The
Yabaite-Pakistan is among three companies working on the Rs17.6bn
($167m) MMBP. The China-based Yabaite Technology is also facing a probe
by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) over alleged
violation of Chinese securities laws.
The NAB has already
approached the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to ask for complete
records of the MMBP after initiating a probe. On a complaint of the
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the FIA had in
September started probing allegations of money laundering and corruption
within the project, and in October the NAB chief ordered the Bureau to
initiate a probe.
The FIA sent the State Bank of Pakistan
(SBP) and the SECP several letters requesting records of the project’s
executing firm Yabaite and details of 16 international companies
involved in money exchange over the past few years.
The
FIA investigators have recorded the statements of Sheikh Ijaz Asghar and
Salman Iqbal of Yabaite Pakistan. The police had arrested the suspects
after registering a first information report against them for fraud in
connection with the MMBP.
In October, the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) directed the NAB to probe allegations of financial
misconduct surrounding the construction of a baggage terminal at
Islamabad’s new airport. The cost of the terminal was quoted at Rs3.9bn
in the Project Concept-I, even though the actual cost was about Rs6.5bn.
Audit
officials told the committee that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
had issued a tender for the project without obtaining a licence from the
Engineering Council. The CAA had applied for a licence after issuing
the tender, resulting in a three-year delay in the project, the auditors
said. It was evident from audit reports that Rs1.5bn had been embezzled
in the project.
The committee also took notice of the
construction of 15 bridges for passengers at the new Islamabad
International Airport. Audit officials told the PAC that irregularities
worth Rs5.99bn had been found in the contracts for the construction of
those bridges.
Sale of PIA aircraft
The NAB chairman also ordered inquiry into the sale of a PIA aircraft.
A
flight-worthy airplane was sold to a museum in Leipzig, Germany, even
though permission to do so had not been sought. No agreements had been
signed, nor did the PIA receive an advance payment for the sale of an
A-310.
The participants of the meeting were told that the
national flag carrier had been sent to Germany without due process, and
carried former acting chief executive officer (CEO) of the airline,
Bernd Hildenbrand, home while he was leaving Pakistan.
The meeting ordered inquiry into corruption worth billions committed by 56 public limited companies in the Punjab province.
The
Department of Financial Services (DFS) has fined Habib Bank and its New
York branch $225m for its failure to comply with New York’s laws and
regulations designed to combat illicit financial transactions.
In
addition, Habib Bank has agreed to surrender its licence to operate its
New York branch upon fulfilment of conditions outlined in a separate
surrender order to ensure an orderly winding up of the branch.
