KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau is expected to file its first reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari this month. It has completed its investigation in the Pink Residency reference.
Aftab Memon, who is the secretary of the land utilization department of the Sindh Board of Revenue, and four others are already in NAB custody in the case. He was accused of allotting seven acres of land belonging to housing schemes in Karachi to Pink Residency. The illegal allotment caused an Rs800 million loss to the national exchequer.
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The Pink Residency is believed to have been owned by Zardari’s former front-men.
In its next meeting, the anti-graft watchdog will seek the final approval from its chairperson, Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal, to file the reference. Besides Zardari, top Sindh government officials are also involved in the case.
The investigations into the Park Lane Company and the purchase of bulletproof vehicles have entered their final phase too. However, the bureau will file the reference after Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have submitted their written replies in the case.
On March 20, NAB handed questionnaires to both of them when they appeared before its interrogators for one and a half hours at NAB’s regional office in Islamabad. They were separately grilled by two NAB teams.
The accused have been charged with illegally allotting official land by making payments through these fake banks accounts and causing losses of millions to the national exchequer.
In an effort to complete the investigation as soon as possible, NAB has also called Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and his predecessor Qaim Ali Shah. Murad will appear before NAB’s JIT on March 25 and Qaim on March 27.
