Shahid Shafiq (left) and Ahad Cheema (right). Photo: File 

LAHORE: The former director general of Lahore Development Authority, Ahad Cheema, and Bismillah Engineering Company CEO Shahid Shafiq were presented in the accountability court Monday for hearing over Ashiana-e-Iqbal housing scheme scam.

Cheema and Shafiq were presented in the court after their physical remand ended.

Both the accused were arrested after National Accountability Bureau detected illegalities and corruption worth billions in a deal between Paragon Housing Society and Punjab Land Development Company to construct the Ashiana-e-Iqbal housing scheme, a low-cost housing project of the Punjab government.

Ashiana Housing scam: Court grants 7-day remand of Bismillah Engineering CEO

A district court had earlier remanded Shahid Shafiq into NAB's custody on Sunday

A NAB spokesperson had earlier said that Cheema misused his authority with criminal intent to award a contract to Bismillah Engineering, which is a C-4 company part of the joint venture Lahore Casa Developers that was ineligible for the contract.

The NAB spokesperson further stated that 61,000 citizens had filed requests for the Ashiana Housing Scheme and paid 60 million rupees in processing fees. The cost of the project had increased due to a delay.

Cheema had also obtained a 32-Kanal piece of land in Lahore Cantonment, registered in the name of his cousin and siblings Ahmed Cheema and Sadia Mansoor, said the NAB spokesperson.