RAWALPINDI: Former OGRA chairman Tauqir Sadiq on Tuesday sentenced to three years in jail by the Rawalpindi accountability court for failing to appear for the hearing for a corruption reference against him.
Moreover, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Sadiq and ordered the freezing of his assets and properties.
Sadiq, the principal accused in Rs82 billion scam, fled abroad after the Supreme Court declared his appointment as OGRA chief illegal on November 25, 2011, and ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to start an investigation against him.
Sadiq, who was sentenced in absentia, remains in the UAE and sources told media in March 2013 that some influential figures in the then government had been using their clout within the country and abroad to protect the former OGRA chief.