Biggest plea bargain in NAB's history worth over Rs1.29bn struck

KARACHI/LAHORE: The biggest plea bargain in the National Accountability Court's (NAB) history — worth over Rs1.29 billion — has been approved by its chairperson, Geo News learned on Sunday. According to reports, NAB Chairperson Justice (r) Javed Iqbal signed off a plea bargain petition wherein a suspect who is accused of corruption in the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and caused Rs23 billion worth of losses to the national exchequer, has agreed to return Rs1,290,000,000 to the treasury. Kamran Iftikhar Lari, a top official at an oil and gas company and the accused in the Rs-23 billion corruption reference at the PSO, has petitioned to return more than Rs1.29 billion. NAB informed the court about the plea bargain application, saying Lari wished to return the aforementioned amount and would pay the sum in three installments. The accused was an employee of a private company, which had entered into a sale agreement with the PSO. The alleged collusion of the suspects caused a loss of more than Rs 23 billion to the national exchequer. NAB chairperson has also signed off the plea bargain of the accused and forwarded the matter to the court.