Islamabad: The owner of Safa Gold Mall and four employees of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) were found guilty by an accountability court in Islamabad on Friday in connection with the building of extra floors of the mall at F-7.
Mall owner Rana Abdul Qayyum was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of Rs. 1 billion by accountability judge Azam Khan, while ex-deputy director general CDA Ghulam Murtaza Malik was sentenced to five years in prison and deputy director Ammar Idrees was sentenced to three years in prison.
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The court also found CDA officials Khalil Ahmed and Khadim Hussain guilty and sentenced them to two years in jail, as well as a fine of Rs. 100,000. These two officials, on the other hand, have already served their time in prison.
Following the pronouncement of the verdict, officials from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) detained the defendants. Three extra floors of the mall were deemed illegal by the court, and the CDA was ordered to reclaim its rent from the owner as well.
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The proprietor of Safa Gold Mall had already submitted an application with the NAB chairman, requesting a pardon and release in exchange for a plea deal. The application, however, was denied.
NAB accused Rana Abdul Qayyum of knowingly and with criminal intent in collusion with CDA officials gaining illegal favours and undue benefits which caused the authorities a loss of about Rs. 1.07 billion.
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