ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday claimed to have found evidence that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was involved in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal in Iraq. Bhutto gave a $2 million commission to the defunct regime of Saddam Hussein to win contracts worth $115 million through two Sharjah-based companies she registered in 2000 and 2001, Hassan Waseem Afzal, NAB deputy chairman, told reporters here. He also released documents suggesting Bhutto’s connections with international companies involved in the scam and facing prosecution in their countries.He said NAB began suspecting Bhutto’s involvement in the scam after the UN inquiry report into the scandal. He said that Petroline FZC, a Sharjah-based company involved in the scam, is owned by Bhutto and her aides Rehman Malik, former FIA additional director, and Hassan Ali Jaffery, her nephew. “The Pakistan government will prosecute these three Pakistanis under UN guidelines.” The second company, Tempo Global Gains FZC, is owned by Bhutto and her three children. “This company appears to be the ultimate destination of all money siphoned off by Benazir and her aides,” he said, adding NAB would ask the UAE government to freeze these companies’ accounts.
Afzal said that a report sent by Spanish authorities investigating BhuttoÂ’s bank accounts in Spain showed that she had received money from banks in Switzerland, the UK and US and companies involved in the oil-for-food scam. NAB would also ask Washington freeze BhuttoÂ’s accounts in the City National Bank, Florida, he added.