LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday denied ball to former project director of DHA City retired Brig Khalid Nazir Butt, a key suspect in the Rs16 billion scam being investigated by the NAB.

The NAB stated another key suspect, Hammad Arshad, the cheif executive of ficer (CEO) of Globaco, had secured a contract from DHA-EME in 2009 to acquire 25,000 kanal for the establishment of DHA City.

It said the company failed to acquire the land, issued allotmentlettersandcollectedaround Rs15.47bn from the public.

The bureau said Mr Butt allowed the company to launch the project without acquisition of land and getting the master plan approved from the executive board of DHA.

Counsel for the suspect argued his client neither committed embezzlement nor took any monetary benefit out of the project. He said all the allegations against his client were fabricated and an attempt to save real culprits. He asked the bench to release Mr Butt on bail.

The bench headed by Justice Mirza Vigas Rauf dismissed the ball petition.

In this scam, Kamran Kiyani, brother of former army chief Pervez Kiayani, is also a suspect.-Staff Reporter