Carriageway corruption case: Fawad Chaudhry served NAB notice

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has served a notice to former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry regarding an inquiry into the carriageway corruption case, ARY News reported on Friday.

The NAB issued a notice to the former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry following an inquiry into alleged financial embezzlement in the Jhelum-Pind Dadan Khan Carriageway project.

The politician has been summoned by the anti-graft watchdog to record his statement on November 13.

Chaudhry was accused of charging a commission from the contractor of the Jhelum-Pind Dadan Khan Carriageway project.

According to the bureau, the politician and his family had purchased the land before the approval of the project and later sell it to the government, causing a huge financial loss to the national exchequer.

On Wednesday, a sessions court in Islamabad sent former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry to jail on judicial remand in an alleged fraud case.

The former federal minister, Fawad, who recently left PTI over May 9 violence, was arrested from his home in Islamabad, his wife said.

Fawad Chaudhry, former PTI leader, was produced before Judicial Magistrate Yasir Mehmood’s court upon completion of his one-day physical remand in a case pertaining to financial fraud.

During the hearing, the police sought an extension in physical remand for the PTI leader for more investigation which was rejected by the court. Subsequently, the court sent him to jail on judicial remand.

The FIR

According to a first information report, Fawad was arrested in a case registered at the Aabpara police station on August 22, 2022, under sections 109 (punishment of abetment if the Act abetted committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341(punishment for wrongful restraint), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The fraud FIR was filed against the ex-PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry by the complainant Zaheer Ahmed on November 4.

In the FIR, Zaheer Ahmed claimed to handed over a sum of Rs50 million to Fawad Chaudhry and when he asked to return the amount, Fawad allegedly offered him two government jobs in exchange, and later Fawad threatened him along with his two-armed guards.