ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is set to recover an amount of Rs13 billion in the Rs82bn Oil and Gas regulatory Authority (Ogra) scam. However, the amount will not be deposited in the national exchequer but will be in the form of ‘book adjustment’, according to sources.
A part of the total amount had been paid through ‘adjustment of bills’ by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), for charging ‘unaccounted for gas’ at a higher rate from 2009 to 2011 when the main character in the scam, Tauqeer Sadiq, was serving as Ogra chairman.
One of the main charges against Mr Tauqeer Sadiq, who is presently under custody, was that both the SNGPL and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) had charged extra amount of Rs39bn through bills with his connivance.
The sources said the SNGPL had to refund almost 62 per cent of the total recoverable amount and it had to pay more to its consumers through adjustment of bills.
On the other hand the SSGC, which has to pay 38 per cent of the Rs39bn recoverable amount, has obtained a stay order from the Sindh High Court restricting the NAB from taking any action against the company.
The total number of gas consumers in the country is said to be 6.7m, of them 4.2m are hooked up with the SNGPL system while 2.5m get gas from the SSGC.
When contacted, a spokesman for NAB refused to comment on specific recovery and said: ‘The NAB will do its best to recover every penny involved in the scam.”
It has been learnt that out of a much-publicised Rs82bn in the case, the NAB can only recover a small fraction and a meagre amount would go to the national kitty.
During interrogation of the former Ogra chief, the NAB has realised that it had quoted an ‘unrealistic’ recoverable amount in the case as it can only recover around Rs1bn hard cash from the accused which is almost 1.2 per cent of the entire amount of the scam. An insider said following the arrest of Tauqeer Sadiq, NAB found itself in trouble as it has to prove what it had earlier claimed in the Supreme Court that the total amount involved in the corruption was Rs82bn.
Another allegation against Tauqeer Sadiq was that he had manoeuvred stocks exchange business by raising the cost of shares of the SNGPL and SSGC from Rs19 to Rs45 and managed to bring back the price to its original position of Rs19. This practice reportedly caused a loss of around Rs500m to the national exchequer.
“If this amount is recovered from the accused it would be given to the two gas supply companies but not to the government,” the senior official of the NAB said.
Another allegation levelled against Mr Sadiq is that he had issued hundreds of CNG station licences. According to an estimate, the accused issued around 500 licences and for each licence he obtained Rs300,000 as commission. In this way he allegedly generated a sum of Rs150m. Mr Sadiq is also accused of permitting the shifting of some 80 CNG stations from their approved sites. He allegedly got Rs300,000 as commission for each such case. In this way he might have managed to get Rs240m.
If the amount in all three cases is added, the total recoverable amount will be Rs890m. Two former prime ministers — Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf — are also accused of illegally appointing Mr Sadiq as Ogra chairman.
The NAB has served four notices to Mr Gilani but he did not respond and said that being former premier he enjoyed immunity and that NAB could not summon him. Mr Ashraf appeared twice before the NAB and recorded his statement in the case.
According to the NAB Ordinance, a person who refuses to appear before NAB after three notices is liable to be arrested. No action seems to be forthcoming against them because of absence of a NAB chairman.
Currently the NAB, after removal of its former chairman retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari on May 28, is working without its chief and thus the bureau cannot take any major decision without permission and signature of the chairman.