KARACHI, July 10 (PR): The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered Rs. 455 billion in cash from corrupt individuals. NAB’s internal accountability system is proactive in acting on complaints from citizens, NAB has arrested several serving officers involved in misuse of authority. Tax evasion has become a widespread practice, and it must be discouraged strictly.
Masood Ahmed, Additional Director of Investigation NAB Sindh, expressed these views yesterday at the meeting of Hamdard Shura Karachi, held at Hamdard Corporate Head Office. The session was chaired by Shura Speaker Gen (r) Moinuddin Haider. The topic of the meeting was “The Need for an Accountability Process.” Ms. Sadia Rashid (Hilal-e-Imtiaz), President of Hamdard Foundation Pakistan, also attended the session.
Masood Ahmed said that during the fiscal year 2023–24, NAB took major action and retrieved 2.29 million acres of land from the Sindh Forest Department that was under illegal occupation. The land is worth over Rs. 2 trillion. The occupying groups had severely damaged the forests on this land.
He added that NAB also recovered Rs. 12 billion from several fraudulent housing schemes and returned the amount to the affected victims. Since its establishment, NAB has recovered land and other assets worth billions of rupees, which are categorized as indirect recoveries. In addition, NAB has taken legal action against hundreds of individuals involved in bribery and fraud.
He further said that in 2022, NAB laws were amended to clearly define the institution’s jurisdiction. Under the new rules, NAB can take legal action only in cases of corruption involving over Rs. 500 million. Additionally, the NAB Ordinance does not apply to individuals living abroad. In cases of suspicious money transfers in bank accounts, only the transactions made after the inquiry begins can be included in the investigation. Moreover, to prove bribery, there must be evidence showing the transfer of money from one bank account to the accused’s account.
“Plea bargain is a legal term. It does not mean giving the accused relief from punishment, but offering partial exemption from charges if the accused admits guilt before the trial begins. Under the NAB Ordinance, plea bargain is allowed in cases of financial corruption and misuse of authority to save the court’s time and resources, and to ensure swift and effective resolution. However, even after accepting a plea bargain, the accused can be declared ineligible for public office. The illegally earned money is confiscated, heavy fines are imposed, and the person’s reputation in society suffers serious damage.”
“FATF had serious concerns regarding money laundering. To comply with international regulations, the government has now made it mandatory for banks to set up an automatic alert system. This system must detect any large transaction that does not match the account’s usual activity and report it to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU).”
“Under this mechanism, the FMU examines such transactions and informs the relevant authorities if needed,” he concluded.
