LNG scandal: NAB arrests Iqbal Z Ahmed

LAHORE (92 News) – A key progress in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) scandal as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has arrested Iqbal Z Ahmed. According to the sources, a team of NAB Karachi led by Additional Director Nauman Mushtaq raided and arrested Iqbal Z Ahmed from outside of his office in Lahore. The accused will be shifted Karachi after taking the transit remand. It is worth mentioning here that Iqbal Z Ahmed was the front man of various personalities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXnVxSyAQgE On August 7, the corruption watchdog body arrested former finance adviser Miftah Ismail after the Islamabad High Court rejected his bail plea in the LNG case. Miftah Ismail had approached the IHC for pre-arrest bail. His plea was heard by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. The court rejected his bail and ordered to arrest the PML-N leader. He was taken into custody from outside the IHC. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is already in custody of the NAB in the liquefied LNG case. The former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is facing charges of corruption and awarding a LNG import contract at exorbitant rates in 2015, which caused big loss to the national exchequer.Sources said that he had granted a tender worth Rs220 bn to a firm in which he himself was a shareholder. NAB sources said that Abbasi, in 2013, had awarded a LNG import and distribution contract to the Elengy Terminal in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.

LNG Scandal

In June 2018, NAB had approved inquiry against Khaqan Abbasi, who was ex-minister for petroleum and natural resources at that time, in granting contract of LNG terminal for 15 years to their ‘favourite’ company. It was also observed that this contract had allegedly caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer. The NAB in January interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.