KARACHI: After a lengthy trial spanning 11 years, an accountability court on Friday acquitted all suspects in the Pakistan Steel Mills corruption reference.
The accountability court-IV judge Suresh Kumar exonerated the suspects from all charges, giving them the benefit of doubt.
The accused include Sameen Asghar, Asghar Jameel Rizvi, Chaudhry Shafiq Abbas, Tariq Irshad. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the reference in 2012.
According to the reference, the accused embezzled funds in the award of contracts, causing a loss of over Rs 13 million to the Pakistan Steel Mills. Last year, an accountability court had acquitted former chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Moeen Aftab Sheikh over lack of evidence in a corruption reference involving Rs 490 million.
Ex-PSM chief Moin Aftab Shaikh along with ex-director (commercial) Sameen Asghar had been accused of misuse of authority which caused a financial loss of Rs0.49 billion to the national exchequer.
