Contractors transferred Rs 30mn to Waqar Hasan's account: NAB prosecutor

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecutor revealed before an accountability court that the company which was given Ashiana Housing scheme contract transferred Rs 30 million into the account of Fawad Hasan Fawad’s brother Waqar Hasan.

An accountability court of Lahore, during the hearing of Ashiana Housing Scheme scandal, was apprised by the NAB prosecutor that Kamran Kiyani made transactions into the account of Waqar Hasan after the finalization of contract’s bidding process.

The Bureau’s prosecutor said money worth Rs 30 million was transferred into the account of Waqar Hasan by the company, which was awarded the contract of the housing project.

The income means of Waqar Hasan are disproportionate to his claimed occupation of being a businessman, the NAB prosecutor told the court.

The anti-graft watchdog sought further physical remand of one of the key accused Fawad Hasan Fawad for further investigation.

The defense counsel argued that the money was transferred to the account of senior civil servant’s brother on account of business purpose.

It is pertinent to mention that former director general Land Development Authority (LDA) Ahad Cheema is also among the accused in Ashiana Housing scam.

According to NAB officials, Ahad Cheema, as director general of Land and Development Authority (LDA), gave the contract of Ashiana Housing Scheme to a company in Rs 14 billion whereas; it is unlawful to make any agreement above Rs 150 million with a company.

NAB officials have found out that it was due to the hired company’s incompetence that the project could not be completed in three-year duration which brought upon a loss of Rs 640 million to the government.