Assets beyond means case: LHC grants bail to Fawad Hasan Fawad

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday (LHC) granted bail to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's principal secretary, Fawad Hasan Fawad, in the assets beyond means case, reported Geo News. 

Hasan was directed by the court to file security bonds worth Rs10 million after the court approved his bail during a hearing of the assets beyond means case held today. 

During proceedings, the bench asked National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor about how much shares did the ex-principal secretary held in the Motorway City and Kashmir Road plaza projects. 

In response, the prosecutor told the court that he was not aware of it and the information should be sought from the suspect. The court responded angrily by asking the NAB lawyer as to why the suspect would share that information, saying that he should have done his homework. 

Hasan was arrested by NAB last year in July on allegations of corruption regarding the  Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam and three other projects. He has also served as principal secretary to PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in 2017 when he was elected prime minister after Nawaz's disqualification. 

Corruption allegations against Fawad Hasan Fawad

According to NAB, the contract for the Ashiana housing scheme was won by a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons.

However, NAB says then-Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and his aides awarded the Rs14 billion contract to Lahore Casa Developers — a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, which is said to be owned by Railways Minister Saad Rafique.

Fawad, who was implementation secretary to the chief minister Punjab at the time, levelled charges of wrongdoings against Chaudhry Latif and Sons for the contract to be awarded to Casa Developers.

In a second reference filed in March last year, NAB accused Fawad of  amassing Rs1.09 billion worth of illegal assets, including a five kanal commercial plot in Rawalpindi's Saddar area valued at around Rs50 million.