NAB no more dealing taxation-related affairs, says chairman

ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said that the accountability watchdog was making all those people accountable for their illegal acts which they have committed while remaining in power, ARY NEWS reported.

“No one dared to ask them about their sources of income before,” the chairman NAB said as President of the Gwadar’s Chamber of Commerce, Mir Naveed Baloch called on him today.

Javed Iqbal said that the NAB respects business community as they had a pivotal role in the progress and prosperity of the country.

“The business-related matters including income and sales tax are already transferred to the FBR [Federal Board of Revenue],” he said.

He said that country is in debt of Rs 100 billion and they had to investigate as to where this money is being spent.

“Despite claims of expenditures, the hospitals lack bed facilities while the students are unable to get admissions in educational institutes,” he said and claimed that those who did not own a penny in 1980s now own buildings and plazas abroad.

“We are investigating as to from where does this amount come from,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that on September 13, Chairman NAB Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said that bringing cases of white-collar crimes and mega corruption cases to a conclusion was among their top priority.

He said that the accountability watchdog received 53,643 complaints during the year 2019 and successfully resolved 42,760 of them.

“In 2018, we received 48,591 complaints and addressed all of them,” the NAB chairman said adding that the rise in complaints depicts confidence of the masses on the accountability watchdog.

He said that 1,308 complaints, 1,686 inquiries, and 609 investigations were resolved during the past year. “We have recovered Rs363 billion during the last two years and submitted them to the national exchequer,” Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said.