NAB summons Shehbaz Sharif in PPDC case on Aug 20

LAHORE (92 News) – The Lahore National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Punjab Power Development Company case on August 20. The Punjab Power Development Company Limited is one of the 56 public sector companies established by PML-N government in Punjab since 2008. The NAB chief Javed Iqbal last year had ordered a probe into the 56 companies over allegations of embezzlement, corruption and irregularities. In April, Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf had also skipped appearance in the NAB in a corruption case related to the Punjab Power Development Company. Ali Yousaf has been accused of receiving millions of rupees from the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PPDC. Yousaf not only failed to appear before a combined investigation team of the NAB but also provided no reason for not turning up. The national anti-graft body has been probing transfer of millions of rupees from the PPDC’s account to Ali Yousaf’s bank account. Yousaf is also accused of getting Naveed appointed as PPDC CEO who allegedly committed massive corruption. On the other hand, a reference has been prepared against an important political figure on the disclosures made by Ahad Cheema and Fawad Hassan Fawad in the Ashiana Iqbal scam. Earlier, the NAB had filed a corruption reference against LDA former director general Ahad Khan Cheema and five others in connection with Ashiyana Housing Scheme corruption scandal. The other accused are named by NAB as Bismillah Engineering Company owner Shahid Shafiq, LDA Chief Engineer Israr Saeed, Punjab Land Development Company Chief Engineer Col (Retd) Arif Majeed, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PLDC Imtiaz Haider and another PLDC official Bilal Qidwai. According to the reference, Ahad Cheema caused Rs Rs 660 million loss to the national exchequer in Ashiyana Scheme project.