NAB asked to produce new accused in case against Dar

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Wednesday resumed trial of former finance minister Ishaq Dar in absentia and directed the prosecution to produce accused in the supplementary graft reference filed recently by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The supplementary reference nominated three new accused along with Dar and included over 10 new prosecution witnesses who would testify against the accused persons.

Three suspects included former National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president Saeed Ahmed, Mansoor Raza and Naeem Mehmood.

At the outset of the court proceedings, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor informed Judge Muhammad Bashir that two out of three accused couldn’t turn up.

He pleaded with the judge for a recess until the accused arrive at court.

The judge then briefly adjourned the hearing.

Following the recess, the accountability judge enquired about the accused.

At which, the prosecutor said they failed to appear before the court.

The judge then directed the NAB prosecution to ensure their presence in the next hearing and provide copies of the interim and supplementary references to the accused.

The hearing was then adjourned till March 5.

On Monday, a supplementary reference was filed by the anti-graft body against Dar in a case pertaining to alleged accumulation of assets beyond his known sources of income.

The reference was filed at a time when the accountability court in the federal capital has almost concluded the trial proceedings as it has recorded the statements of 29 out of 30 witnesses.

The reference is likely to delay conclusion of the trial and make it difficult for the trial court to meet a six-month deadline set by the Supreme Court.

Wajid Zia, head of the Supreme Court-appointed JIT to probe the Sharif family’s wealth, is among the witnesses who have testified in the case so far.

Wajid Zia submitted the Volume I and IX of the JIT report to the judge.

He informed the court that the former finance minister’s assets were around Rs 9.1 million in 1999 as per his wealth statement, which increased to Rs831.6 million in 2008-09.

He stated that Dar failed to provide any proof to the JIT to justify how his assets multiplied by leaps and bounds in a decade.

According to the NAB reference, Dar had acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his name or in the name of his dependents of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million as per the investigation conducted so far.