Pakistan's Interim Prime Minister Nominee Facing Rs. 220 Billion Graft Inquiry

[IndoCarib]

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is allegedly facing a Rs. 220 billion corruption inquiry over an LNG contract.

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz party's interim prime minister nominee Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is allegedly facing a Rs. 220 billion corruption inquiry by Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau over an LNG contract, according to a media report.

Mr Abbasi, the former minister for petroleum and natural resources, is the principal accused in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case registered in 2015 over the award of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract, Dawn News reported.


Other suspects in the case include former petroleum secretary Abid Saeed, Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) managing director Mobin Saulut, private firm Engro's chief executive officer Emranul Haq and the Sui Southern Gas Company's (SSGC) ex-MD Zuhair Ahmed Siddiqui, the report said.

Mr Abbasi is expected to be elected as the new prime minister by Pakistan's Parliament tomorrow, replacing ousted premier Nawaz Sharif.

The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified 67-year-old Nawaz Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing the embattled leader out of office.

After Nawaz Sharif's disqualification, the PML-N nominated Mr Abbasi as its candidate for the prime minister's post for an interim period before Punjab Chief Minister and Nawaz Sharif's brother Shehbaz Sharif replaces him for the remaining 10 months of the government's term.


According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.


The bureau registered the case on July 29, 2015, but it is still in the inquiry stage, contrary to NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry's claim that he has introduced a new strategy under which the process of complaint verification, inquiry, investigation and filing of reference takes 10 months, the report said.

It appears that like several cases of the Nawaz Sharif family, this one has also been dumped by the NAB, it said.

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/paki...e-facing-rs-220-billion-graft-inquiry-1731479

 

[doe33]

Ye to aur bi bara bandar h

 

[Secur]

The best that PML-N could find in its party, another politician who's again one step away from being disqualified and tried like Nawaz Sharif. Then, they argue that the courts are hell bent on booting out democracy, they don't need to do anything, because you do a ten times better job yourselves. Where is the wisdom in getting an interim PM who already has charges of corruption against him? Are they telling us that they couldn't find a capable, undisputed person in a party of millions?