Paragon Housing scam case: NAB admonished for not recording star witness statement

LAHORE: An accountability court Tuesday adjourned the hearing of Paragon Housing scam case until June 17 to record statement of NAB’s star witness Qaiser Amin Butt against brothers Kh Saad Rafique and Kh Salman Rafique.

The NAB produced Qaiser Amin Butt in an ambulance Tuesday. However, his statement could not be recorded. This irked the judge and he remarked that if the NAB cannot work according to law then it should be abolished. The judge admonished the NAB for delaying in recording statement of Qaiser Amin Butt. The court directed the NAB to record statement of Qaiser for the next hearing on June 17. Khwaja brothers also appeared before the court and marked their attendance.

According to the reference details, Qaiser Amin Butt, the main accused in the Paragon Housing scam, voluntarily disclosed the facts related to the commission of offence and requested for pardon under Section 26 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 (NAO 1999), which was granted by the competent authority. NAB filed reference against Kh Saad Rafique, Kh Salman Rafique, Nadeem Zia Pirzada, his son Umer Zia and Farhan Ali. The NAB stated in the reference that Saad Rafique, in connivance with his wife Ghazala Saad Rafique, brother Salman Rafique, Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia, started a housing project namely Air Avenue, which was an illegal housing society. Later, it was converted into M/s Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd. Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique, in connivance with Nadeem Zia and Qaiser Amin Butt, defrauded a large number of members of the housing society. Saad opened a company, Executive Builders, in his and his wife’s name, and later converted it into Paragon.