LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday ordered an inquiry into the corruption allegations levelled against Shehbaz Sharif in the Multan Metro Bus Project, and the controversial selling of a flight-worthy Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) aircraft.
Presiding over a meeting of NAB’s director generals, NAB Chairman (r) Justice Javed Iqbal took suo moto notice of the two matters and said that the investigation must be completed within 10 months.
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In August, ARY News had accused the Punjab chief minister of receiving more than Rs10 million in kickbacks from the project. Shehbaz had vehemently denied the charges in a press conference, saying that levelling such serious allegations against someone was not a “joke”.
ARY News had reported that a Chinese regulatory authority had found discrepancies in the income of a local company Yabaite that had business links to a firm in Pakistan. On further investigation, the Chinese board had discovered that the company belonged to Shehbaz.
Earlier this year, the national flag carrier had allegedly sold an aircraft to a German museum without seeking permission from authorities. In March, a parliamentary committee had asked the PIA to submit a thorough report on the matter.
Following Iqbal’s order, the relevant NAB offices will now appoint an inquiry officer to investigate the matters and file a reference within 10 months.
