'Only allegation not levelled against NAB is the spread of coronavirus'

• If the economy gets better, so will Pakistan, says chairman NAB
  
• He says someone had to "step up and stand against corruption, and that is what NAB did"
• "NAB and Pakistan can co-exist; however, corruption and Pakistan cannot" 

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Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Tuesday ironically said that the "only allegation not hurled at the anti-graft body yet is the spread of coronavirus in the country."

Speaking to traders and businessmen in Islamabad, he said that the country is "deep in debts," adding that if the "economy gets better, Pakistan's condition will improve too."

The chairman said that someone had to "step up and take a stand against corruption," adding that this is "exactly what NAB did."

"NAB summoned those people who were earlier considered untouchable," he said.

Speaking further, the anti-graft body's chairman said that NAB "has no political role", adding that his institution is "not taking revenge" from anyone.

The chairman, rejecting allegations that NAB was involved in political engineering, said that had "his engineering were any good, he would have retired as an engineer."

"NAB and Pakistan can co-exist; however, corruption and Pakistan cannot," he said, adding that some people were "hiding their weaknesses" by blaming NAB. 

Victim of fraud

While speaking to businessmen, the NAB chairman revealed that he was a "victim of a fraud," adding that the incident had occurred soon after he retired from the Supreme Court.

"After I had retired from the Supreme Court, I thought of purchasing a plot as I had received a lot of money," the chairman said.

"I saw an advertisement for a housing society that had waterfalls, mosques, tennis courts, a gym, and a shopping centre, but there was a condition that if you pay the money at once, there would be no balloting," he said.

According to chairman NAB, he made the payment at once but could not get possession of his property even after several years. He added that he could not even recover Rs4.5million that he paid for the property. 

"Once I became NAB's chairman, however, [people from] the society's management came to me and handed a cheque of Rs4.5million to me," he claimed.