Fabricated allegations: Dhedi’s involvement in Ogra scam denied

KARACHI: Nessar Ahmad, the man certain media reports claimed was witness to a Rs160 million graft payment by a stock market tycoon to the ex-chairman of Ogra, has said the whole story was fabricated. Ahmad denied the allegations published in a section of the press that he had testified before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that Aqeel Karim Dhedi paid Rs160 million to Tauqeer Sadiq in front of him in a café in order to tamper with the gas loss rules set by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). In a letter to the NAB chairman he said, “I never made any statement or allegation regarding the involvement of Aqeel Dhedi in anything relating to unaccounted-for gas… no such thing ever happened.” In the letter, Ahmad said his clarification was necessary since news reports mentioned that the Executive Board of NAB was due to consider the filing of a reference relating to the Ogra scam. “It was absolutely essential that the board not be misled or swayed by such works of fiction the likes of which have been appearing with regularity in a certain a part of the press.” Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2014.