NAB team returns empty-handed from Miftah Ismail's house
The team will also raid the PML-N leader's office in the second phase.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team has returned after conducting raids at the residence of former minister of finance and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah Ismail in Karachi, Islamabad and his factory in the site area.
The bureau’s team including female officers raided at Miftah’s residence in Karachi along with his arrest warrants issued by the Chairman NAB Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, in LNG case.
The team entered the house of former finance minister but Miftah was not home and his mobile phone was off as well.
As the NAB team including female officers reached Miftah’s residence, the security guards refuse to open the doors. The security supervisor at the house stopped the NAB team and said that the doors cannot be opened without consultation.
Sources said that the former finance minister’s cell phone was also off since 12pm due to which the anti-graft watchdog is unable to trace his location. The team will also raid his office in the second phase.
Sources privy to the NAB said that the former finance minister was not cooperating with anti-graft agency’s team.
The development came following arrest of former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi by NAB in LNG case. He has been ‘accused of commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices’.
Case Background
The apex court on September 10, 2018 had directed the NAB to complete the inquiry against former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail and others for the alleged corruption in the LNG contract.
As the minister for petroleum and natural resources, he has been accused of granting contract on LNG Terminal to ETPL, Tri-partial agreement, LSA with EETPL and LNG import from Qatar etc.
In June 2018, the NAB approved inquiry against former premier Nawaz Sharif and Abbasi, who was the former minister for petroleum and natural resources at that time, in granting contract of LNG terminal for 15 years to their ‘favourite’ company.
It was also observed that this contract had allegedly caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
In January, the NAB interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.
According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
