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The National Accountability Bureau ( ur, ; abbreviated NAB) is an autonomous and constitutionally established federal institution responsible to build efforts against
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments against economic terrorism for the
Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...
. It is headed by Aftab Sultan as its chairman. The NAB is empowered to undertake any necessary prevention and awareness, in all means, in addition to enforce its operations against economic terrorism and
financial crimes Financial crime is crime committed against property, involving the unlawful conversion of the ownership of property (belonging to one person) to one's own personal use and benefit. Financial crimes may involve fraud (cheque fraud, credit card ...
. Since it was established by
Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
on 16 November 1999, its sphere of operations has been expanded and extended. The constitution grants power to launch investigations, conduct inquiries, and issues arrest warrants against individuals suspected of
financial mismanagement Financial mismanagement is management that, deliberately or not, is handled in a way that can be characterized as "wrong, bad, careless, inefficient or incompetent" and that will reflect negatively upon the financial standing of a business or indiv ...
, economic terrorism, corruption (all in
private-sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment Th ...
, state-sector, defence-sector, and corporate-sector), and directs cases to the accountability courts. Established by Ordinance No. XIX, its powers have been extended to conduct inquiries at higher levels by Article 270AA of the
Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was approved by ...
. With its chief headquarters located in Islamabad, it has four regional offices in the four provinces, as well as the four capital territories of Pakistan.


Organization

The bureau has two principal officers: the Chairman; and the Prosecutor General of Accountability in Pakistan. The Chairman is the head of investigation, and serves a four-year term. Lt-Gen Syed Mohammad Amjad was the first chairman of the bureau. Aftab Sultan is the present chairman of NAB. The Prosecutor General is the head of prosecution, and serves a three-year term. A retired justice Asghar Haider is current Prosecutor General of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).


Performance and notable operations


Financial recoveries

Since its formation, the institution has recovered over ₨. 240 Bn (approximately US$ 4 Bn) from corruption committed by country's elite politicians, bureaucrats, former military officers, and those involved in the
white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...
s. According to Musharraf the "NAB was created to put the fear of God in the corrupt, as Pakistan was on the brink of being declared a failed state before I came to power." In its research studies published by NAB in 2011, the institution has recovered ₨. 119.5Bn from bank defaults and provided ₨. 60Bn to restructured the banks. by September 2019


Prosecution and investigations

In 2011, the NAB reported that it has 1791 cases that were under prosecution, out of which, 1093 cases prosecutions were completed.


Infrastructure

In 2013, inducted a large number of officers and conducted their Investigation Training at COMSATS University in Islamabad. The officers, after successful completion of the Seven Months off-job and 2 Months on-job training, were posted to different bureaus within the country. There are various challenges currently faced by NAB, including a slow judicial process, difficulty in collecting prosecutable evidence since the majority of country's public record is not electronically archived or integrated into a central database.


Criticism

The National Accountability Bureau has been criticized by the Supreme Court for mismanagement. Justice Jawad S. Khawaja of the Supreme Court criticized the institution for its practice of 'plea bargain' and described it as 'institutionalized corruption'. Under the said practice the Bureau arrests suspects and negotiates for an out-of-court settlement under which the suspect is made to sign a confession and deposit funds of an amount determined by NAB. Justice Khawaja stated during court proceedings that he believed some NAB officials warn influential suspects before arrest to allow them sufficient time to escape. The NAB has also been criticised of mismanaging the
Broadsheet case The Broadsheet case, officially known as the "Broadsheet vs Islamic Republic of Pakistan and NAB" case, is an ongoing legal case related to the non-payment of service fees to asset recovery company 'Broadsheet LLC' by the Government of Pakistan. ...
including making payments to the wrong person as settlements and been held by the
London Court of International Arbitration The London Court of International Arbitration is a British private company limited by guarantee with a head office in London. It offers dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation. History The City of London Chamber of Arbitration w ...
(LCIA) of 'conspiring' to defraud and financially harm Broadsheet LLC. The follies and incompetency of NAB had cost Pakistan's taxpayer $28 million in payments as damages as well as a loss of face.


List of chairmen


See also

*
Exit Control List The Exit Control Lists (ECL; ur, ) is a system of border control maintained by the Government of Pakistan under Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981. The people on the list are prohibited from leaving Pakistan. Priorities 1. Exit from P ...
* Ministry of Interior *
National Reconciliation Ordinance The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO; Urdu: قومی مفاہمت فرمان 2007ء) was a controversial ordinance issued by the former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, on 5 October 2007.Official website
{{Independent departments and agencies of the Government of Pakistan , state=collapsed Financial regulation in Pakistan Politics of Pakistan Pakistan federal departments and agencies Business ethics organizations Anti-corruption agencies 1999 establishments in Pakistan Government agencies established in 1999 National Accountability Bureau