Nabbing white collar mega corruption cases NAB's priority: Justice Javed.

ISLAMABAD -- Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice Javed Iqbal said the corrupt elements, proclaimed offenders and absconders would be dealt with iron hands.

In a statement, he said the NAB's top most priority was to take white collar mega corruption cases to logical conclusion on scientific basis by using modern techniques, cases of cheating public, housing societies/cooperative societies, fraudulent financial companies, bank frauds, willful bank loan defaults, misuse of authority, money laundering and embezzlement of state funds etc.

He said NAB's major achievements had been the recovery of Rs. 342 /- billion of ill-gotten money of people at large which had been deposited in the national exchequer and not a single penny had been received by NAB officers.

He said NAB had rationalized its workload and timelines had been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases putting a maximum limit of 10 months-from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to-investigation and finally to a reference in the Accountability Court.

He said NAB had also introduced Combine Investigation Team (CIT) system in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. This was not only lending quality to the work but also ensuring that no single individual could influence the official proceedings of NAB.

He said NAB on bilateral cooperation, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China to streamline and structure and cooperation in the fields of anti-corruption.

In the context of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), this cooperation would further boost confidence in projects undertaken in Pakistan.

He said an effective accountability mechanism was quintessential for economic growth, investment and stability of social order.

The intervention by NAB had acted as a catalyst, as transparency was a prerequisite for promoting investment and economic growth.

Since its inception, NAB had adopted the enforcement based approach in its fight against corruption.

Special focus was therefore being given to Awareness and Prevention activities besides enforcement to educate the people at large about the ill effects of corruption.

He said NAB had initiated complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations by adopting 'Accountability for All' policy across the board on alleged allegations of corruption and corrupt practices.

The indiscriminate action had increased the prestige of NAB manifold...