Anti-grant agency to file case against ex-PM Raja Ashraf

Pakistan's anti-graft agency will file a case against former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf for the Rs 22-billion rental power projects scam.
A meeting of the National Accountability Board, chaired today by the agency's head Chaudhry Qamar Zaman, decided to file the case against Ashraf, a senior leader of the Pakistan People's Party.
The NAB had completed work for filing the case a long time ago but needed a chairman to stamp the approval. The agency had been without a head for several months.
The watchdog has already filed a case against Ashraf in a case related to irregularities in setting up a power plant in Sindh province. The charges against Ashraf date back to the time when he was the Power Minister in the previous PPP-led government.

NAB has completed investigations in several cases in which Ashraf is among the accused. Former Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen is also an accused in the cases.
Nine firms were accused of receiving over Rs 22 billion as a mobilisation advance from the PPP-led government to set up rental power projects but most of them did not establish the plants. Ashraf has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commissions.
The scam had earned Ashraf the nickname of "Raja Rental".