Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani, the then finance secretary of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, hit the headlines in May this year when NAB seized over Rs730 million hard cash from his house in Quetta hours after he was taken into custody.
As the drama involving the recovery of such a large amount began to unfold, the finance man was also found to be owning as many as a dozen houses in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, whose estimated cost was said to be around Rs2 billion.
With the suspect caught keeping millions in illegal money and owning property obtained beyond his known sources of income, it appeared to be an open-and-shut case ending with his conviction -- until NAB’s decision on Wednesday.
The executive board meeting (EBM) of NAB, which itself had put Mr Raisani’s corruption figure at Rs40bn, accepted his plea bargain request for Rs2bn. NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry presided over the meeting.
Mushtaq Raisani’s plea bargain request of over Rs2bn accepted
"The EBM decided to accept plea bargain request of over Rs2 billion of Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani, Secretary Finance Balochistan, and Sohail Majeed Shah, contractor and frontman of Khalid Lango, ex-adviser to Chief Minister Balochistan," the NAB front man confirmed.
He said it was the biggest-ever plea bargain deal struck by NAB.
In reply to a question, the front man said Mr Raisani would be "fully cleared" after the deal is approved by the accountability court. However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
he would not be able to seek any government job or a bank loan for next 10 years.
"We have already recovered over Rs1 billion cash from the accused which was in addition to confiscation of his 12 houses," the front man said.