IO laments snail pace of National Bank graft case proceedings

KARACHI: A former president of the National Bank and 13 others facing a corruption case of over Rs 21 billion, which is moving in a snail pace, investigation official said in the court here on Monday.

Former National Bank of Pakistan president Ali Raza and other officials facing the allegations of graft during 2003 to 2008 at the NBP branch in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

According to the investigation officer one year passed to statement recorded by a witness in the case. The counsels of the accused get the date of the next hearing on the proceeding of the case every time, he said.

The IO claimed that the accused were also involved in corruption in the bank welfare fund.

In September 2017, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested the ex-NBP chief on charges of corruption after the Sindh High Court turned down his bail request.

The NAB had filed a reference against the former NBP chief and other officials for allegedly misusing their authority by granting and revising financing facilities in the NBP Bangladesh branch that caused a loss of $185 million to the national exchequer.

According to the NAB, the accused with the connivance of each other had caused billion rupees loss to the national exchequer through their corrupt practices in the NBP Bangladesh operations.

The NAB maintained that irregularities were revealed in audit report of 2009.