*LAHORE*: Newly appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States (US)Ali Jahangir Siddiqui lands into serious troubles just days after hisappointment to the esteemed post.

He has been summoned by NAB for a probe into an embezzlement allegation onMarch 22.

Siddiqui has been accused of causing losses worth Rs 40 billion to variousfinancial and government institutions and will be questioned by a CombinedInvestigation Team (CIT) during his appearance before NAB.

The anti-graft watchdog will interrogate Siddiqui under section 19 ofNational Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, at NAB Complex Thokar NiazBaig for his role as director investment in Azgard Nine Limited (ANL).

“You are advised that failure to comply with this notice may entail penalconsequences as provided in section 2 of the schedule of NAO 1999,” saidthe NAB call-up notice to Ali Jahangir Siddique dated March 15.

Ali Jahangir Siddique is summoned to respond to allegations that includesyphoning off funds amounting to Euro 23.758 million in 2008 for thepurchase of an Italian Company “Monte Bello SRL” using a foreign companywhich resulted in a loss to the company shareholders.

He is also accused of selling shares of Agritech Limited to differentfinancial and government institutions by ANL at a higher price than themarket price to settle loan defaults of the company, which resulted in anapproximate loss of Rs 40 billion to the respective institutions.

It is relevant to mention here that reportedly in 2016, Securities andExchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in its report said that prices ofAzgard Nine group’s shares were artificially increased from Rs24 to Rs70,and payments were also made to an unidentified party.