Ahad Cheema, Fawad Hasan Fawad sent on judicial remand

Ahad Cheema, Fawad Hasan Fawad sent on judicial remand

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Friday remanded former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheema and four others into judicial custody until August 9.

The court was hearing the Ashiana Iqbal Housing scheme reference.

Earlier in November, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) began an investigation into the Ashiana Iqbal Housing scam in November after it received complaints regarding an illegal deal involving 3,000 public kanals between the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC), a government-owned company, and private companies.

Moreover, on Saturday, an accountability court in Lahore also extended the physical remand of former principal secretary to the prime minister (PS to PM) Fawad Hassan Fawad.

The investigation officer informed the court that the accused misused his authority while he was implementation secretary to Punjab chief minister.

The accused allegedly cancelled the contract of a company that won the bidding for the Ashiana Iqbal Housing scheme and awarded it to another company, causing a loss of Rs6 million to the national exchequer.

The unnecessary delay also increased the cost of the project, the accountability watchdog claimed.

Accepting the investigation officer’s request, the court extended Fawad’s physical remand by 14 days on July 21.