Nawaz govt funnelled money for Islamabad airport into CSM: PM’s aide
Statesman Report
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Thursday said former premier Nawaz Sharif, during his time as the chief executive, used the new Islamabad International Airport project to inject money into Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM).
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday, the PM’s aide presented a breakdown of the alleged corruption that had been carried out by the Sharifs with links to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
Akbar explained that the major contract for the project was given to a company called Technical Associate which, according to the PM’s aide, is owned by individuals with close links to the Sharifs.
“They made serious changes to the project’s PC-1, serious design changes due to which a Rs33 billion project ended up costing close to Rs105 billion.
“Because of this, there were delays which ended up benefiting Technical Associate [the company] which then ended up injecting Rs507 million into the Chaudhry Sugar Mills,” he alleged.
Displaying a cheque from Technical Associate for Rs50 million, which he claimed was withdrawn by Shujaat Azeem – special assistant to the prime minister on aviation during Nawaz’s government, Akbar said: “If this is not a kickback then it is a conflict of interest.”