NAB summons Nawaz Sharif's close aide Javed Kiyani for sugar scam probe

• Javed Kiyani is the vice-chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association.
• He was also co-accused in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case with former premier Nawaz Sharif.
• Kiyani is a close aide of former PM Nawaz Sharif.

RAWALPINDI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday summoned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's close aide Javed Kiyani for the sugar crisis probe. 

Kiyani is currently the vice-chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PASMA) and was a co-accused in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. 

A former officer of the Ministry of Industries and Production Khizar Hayat has also been summoned by NAB Rawalpindi on April 14. 

Meanwhile, Muzammil Pasha, the accountant of the Industries and Production Department has been summoned by the anti-graft body on April 13 in relation to the investigation. 

PASMA chairman Sikander Pasha has also been summoned to the corruption watchdog's office, for the second time, next week. 

According to the questionnaire seen by Geo News, NAB will inquire from the persons about how the prices of sugar were determined in 2017 and who was responsible for doing so. 

The bureau has also sought the records of the proposals forwarded from 2017-2019 for the subsidy on sugar as well as the records of the Punjab Food Department. 

PTI leader Jahangir Tareen has so far not been summoned by NAB Rawalpindi. He is being investigated by the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) in another case. 

NAB forms team to probe subsidy scam

Last year, NAB had constituted a combined investigation team (CIT) of experts to investigate the sugar scam in which a huge subsidy was doled out to mill owners and others on exports.

A NAB spokesman, in a statement, had said the CIT had been constituted in a meeting chaired by Chairman NAB Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal after reviewing the Sugar Commission report in detail.

The CIT has been mandated to conduct the investigations in an impartial, independent, and transparent manner, he had said.

The CIT consists of two investigation officers, financial experts, legal consultants, sugar industry investigation experts, and relevant directors.