NAB arrests five more in youth festival scam

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau, Lahore, on Friday made five more arrests in Punjab Youth Festival scam.

The NAB arrested deputy director and Punjab Sports Board Procurement Committee member Tariq Masood, deputy director and member of finance Wilayat Shah, two contractors Ihsan Ul Haq and Imran besides one Syed Wasim, a phony representative of Guinness Book of World Records.

Previously, the NAB had arrested former Punjab Sports Board DG Usman Anwer on charges of embezzling funds of Punjab Youth Festival and violating PPRA rules in awarding contracts. possession letters: National Accountability Bureau Lahore on Friday organised third ceremony to hand over possession letters to affecttees of Khayaban-i-Amin Housing Society.

Deputy Prosecutor General Accountability (DPGA) Khaleeq-uz-Zaman and Director Investigation Ehtram Dar participated as chief guests in the ceremony. According to the details, the third ceremony in this connection was organised by National Accountability Bureau Lahore authorities to hand over 246 possession letters of newly-constructed houses worth Rs1.2 billion among the affectees of the housing society.

Earlier in May this year, around 1,700 affectees were given possession letters of plots and houses in the society amounting to Rs7 billion (approx), whereas, in October last year hundreds of other affectees received possession letters of Rs4 billion.

Addressing the affectees, Ehtram Dar said it was only due to the efforts of NAB Lahore’s officers that thousands of affectees had been benefitted. He maintained that in compliance with the advice from NAB Chairman Justice Javed Iqbal and Director General NAB Lahore that National Accountability Bureau’s priority was to recover looted money from culprits and deliver the same to affectees of housing sector without any delay which is rather better than putting any accused behind the bar without recovery of any penny.

He said that NAB’s Awareness and Prevention (A&P) Wing was working to restrict crime before its happening. We are working to make bound every housing society administration to display society map and complete details at the front gate for public awareness.

Khaleeq-uz-Zaman said it is due to the existing loopholes in our system that innocent people get trapped and bear loss, whereas, it is also because of the irresponsibility of the general public that they invest hefty amounts in such illegal societies.

He said the stakeholders were the actual accountable for the loss of public money. Pointing towards owners of Khayaban-i-Amin Society, he reminded them of the fact that they were on conditional bail and would face the music if they failed to deliver according to the promises. At the end, the affectees expressed their gratitude to the National Accountability Bureau chairman and DG Lahore for redressing their grievances.