In a major development, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has declared Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif innocent in a probe into the Ashiana Housing reference.
According to the details, NAB’s report states that an inquiry was conducted twice, however, no concrete evidence of corruption or misuse of authority was found. The accusations against Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana Housing scandal could not be substantiated.
The evidence and records examined during the investigation showed that no public officeholder received illegal benefits in the project. The report further said neither Kamran Kayani caused any loss to the national exchequer nor Fawad Hasan Fawad took a bribe in the award of contracts.
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The NAB report further highlighted that Shehbaz Sharif did not derive any personal benefits from the Ashiana Housing project. The evidence presented indicates that public officeholders did not exploit their positions for personal gain, nor did they cause any financial losses to the government treasury.
NABنے وزیر اعظم شہباز شریف کو آشیانہ ہاوسنگ سکینڈل میں بے گناہ قرار دیدیا
آشیانہ ہاوسنگ کے ٹھیکے میں بدعنوانی کے کوئی ثبوت نہیں ملے۔نہ سرکاری خزانے کو نقصان پہنچا نہ شہباز شریف نے کوئی فوائد حاصل کیے۔
نیب نے شہباز شریف کی بریت کی درخواست جواب عدالت میں جمع کروادیا
👇 https://t.co/BK905yulGe pic.twitter.com/iiWatkwUPw— Asad Kharal (@AsadKharal) May 20, 2023
The Ashiana Housing Scheme is a government project initiated in Punjab, Pakistan, aimed at providing affordable housing to low-income citizens. NAB had launched an investigation into the alleged corruption and irregularities in the execution of the project.
The allegations against Shehbaz Sharif revolve around alleged favoritism and irregularities in awarding contracts for the Ashiana Housing Scheme. It is alleged that he bypassed due process, canceled the contract awarded to a private firm, and unlawfully awarded the contract to another company. The prosecution claims that this resulted in a financial loss to the national exchequer.
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According to NAB, “the contract for the housing scheme was won by a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons but former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and his aides awarded the Rs 14 billion contract to Lahore Casa Developers – a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, which is said to be owned by the Railways Minister Saad Rafique”.