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NAB Spends Billions on 50 Mega Corruption Cases with Zero Recovery

(CTN News) – Amidst the tumultuous world of political intrigue and the relentless quest for justice, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) set out on a perilous quest to unravel the tangled web of fifty mega-corruption cases that had entangled prominent political personalities.
Nevertheless, all the hubbub aside, the result is a story of money spent without equal return. After spending billions of rupees on these cases, the NAB achieved an unnerving zero in terms of recovery, much like a dedicated chess player navigating a difficult board.
Purportedly fought to restock the national coffers, this difficult struggle is a monument to wasted investments and financial setbacks. Instead of a trail of recovered cash, the anti-corruption watchdog’s efforts have left a financial weight on the coffers it was trying to strengthen.
Fifty high-profile corruption cases have cost the NAB over Rs6 billion to investigate over the last eight years. According to the Hum Investigation Team, the NAB spent Rs27 billion during those eight years, including other cases.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) claims that prominent figures involved in these massive corruption cases stole about Rs900 billion from the country’s coffers.
Numerous landmark decisions have gone against the NAB within the framework of its new legislation.
It is worth mentioning that the NAB used more than Rs1 billion to investigate the Panama case from 2017 until Nawaz Sharif was found not guilty.
No significant convictions were obtained, and not a single rupee was recovered throughout these eight years, despite the combined efforts of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a joint investigation team, international corporations, and the Asset Recovery Unit.
Of the 50 high-profile instances, 80% had their cases concluded after obtaining bail, while 5% were found not guilty. Also, 55% of the major players had their inquiries terminated by NAB.
Over eight years, the Hum Investigation Team found that the Ministry of Law spent Rs800 million on 69 judges’ and staff’s salaries and operational expenses spread out among 24 accountability courts.
While the NAB and the Asset Recovery Unit teams investigated the matter, they went on more than 41 international travels, costing Rs170.
The teams returned from their excursions to the US, UK, UAE, China, and Switzerland, having spent more than Rs200 million but still hadn’t achieved much.
Additionally, the government granted the NAB Rs2.23 billion in the 2018–19 budget and Rs4.24 billion in the 2019–20 budget.
The NAB received Rs5.08 billion in the 2020-21 budget, including an extra grant of Rs500 million. In the fiscal year 2022–23, the NAB got more than Rs5 billion, while in the 2021–22 budget, the government had allotted Rs5.13 billion to the NAB.
Findings from the Hum Investigation Team indicate that 95% of the accused were physically remanded in NAB prison for 37 days and incarcerated for 130 days on judicial remand.
The total cost to the national coffers from the collective remand was Rs270 million, lasting 1,650 days. The total number of days these prominent figures spent behind bars since 2018 was 5,900.
The anticipated cost of the inmates’ time spent in imprisonment and court appearances was roughly Rs300 million. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), prison administrations, courts, and the police force all contributed to compiling these financial details.
Since 2017, the NAB has investigated allegations involving more than 250 sitting and former lawmakers. Individuals accountable for a Rs700 billion loss to the national exchequer were the targets of the NAB’s 513 references, investigations, inquiries, and complaints.
The NAB chairman assigned twelve policemen and twenty-six sports personnel to a special cell to investigate these cases. A total of Rs80 million was allotted for the salaries of the sporting personnel and special cell officers.
In addition, two joint inquiry teams were formed at one time, costing Rs20 million. The prosecution teams, NAB intelligence branch, and operations wing—particularly in the UK—received almost 70 million rupees.
The acquisition of data from the UAE also received an allocation of approximately Rs10 million. For Rs20 million, the NAB used its forensic lab to investigate fictitious transactions.
From June 9, 2019, until December 11, 2019, Asif Ali Zardari was incarcerated and held by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the suspected false accounts case.
After serving 56 days in NAB custody and an extra 113 days in prison, the sister of the former president, Faryal Talpur, was finally freed on bond on December 17, 2019. Both were entangled in the alleged Rs54 billion issue of false accounts.
Following the 2017 case transfer to NAB by the Supreme Court, the combined investigating team expended a significant Rs80 million.
Between 2018 and 2019, Shehbaz Sharif spent 293 days in the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody or jail. This was not enough time for Hamza Shehbaz, who spent 697 days between June 2019 and February 2021 in prison and NAB custody.
Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme, Chaudhry Sugar Mills, money laundering, and assets surpassing income were all factors in the 25 billion rupees in cases brought against the Shehbaz Sharif family.
Thirteen individuals representing NAB, FIA, and ARU traveled to the UK four times for information gathering, spending more than Rs30 million.
Approximately Rs140 million was spent by the NAB to hire a special prosecutor, 15 investigation officers, and a prosecutor in the cases against the Shehbaz Sharif family. Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz’s appearances required petrol, bulletproof trucks, and special security officers, which cost an additional Rs30 million.
The cases involving several prominent figures, including as Babar Awan, Qamarul Islam, Mir Shakeelur Rehman, Tayyaba Farooq, and others, cost more than Rs250 million.
Mir Shakeelur Rehman, Tayyaba Farooq, Qamarul Islam, Babar Awan, and Raja Pervez Ashraf were all cleared in NAB trials. After spending Rs320 on investigations and inquiries, the NAB brought closure to more than 30 high-profile cases. The head of Pakistan’s ruling party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf, has spent more than a hundred days behind bars.
Khawaja Asif was detained for 179 days, from December 29, 2020, to June 23, 2021, after the NAB spent over Rs30 million on the disproportionate assets case against him.
With the Khawaja brothers serving 404 days in NAB custody and prison from February 2, 2019, to March 17, 2020, and a large expenditure of Rs70 million, the cases concerning the Khawajas were initiated.
The Panama case and Chaudhry Sugar Mills put Maryam Nawaz in danger, as she faced 47 days in NAB custody with an extra 39 days behind bars. About Rs30 million was spent by the NAB on the Maryam Nawaz case.
While PPP politician Sharjeel Memon spent 545 days in jail for an alleged corruption case, the NAB spent Rs160 million researching a case against him. Prosecuting former Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani cost the NAB Rs35 million.
Over the past four years, the NAB has incurred significant resources due to the 470 days that former petroleum minister Asim Hussain spent in custody and jail due to his involvement in several cases.
Shah remained in NAB detention and jail for an unprecedented 763 days, and the NAB spent over Rs100 million on the case against him.
Since PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal spent 64 days in NAB custody and jail, the spending in the case against him surpassed Rs35 million.
Aleem Khan, leader of the IPP, was indicted on February 6, 2019, and remained in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ‘s custody until May 15, 2019, costing a total of Rs70 million.
Bureaucrats Fawad Hasan Fawad and Ahad Cheema were the subjects of cases that cost the NAB more than Rs69 million. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) held Fawad Hasan Fawad for 586 days and jailed Ahad Cheema for 616 days.

News
Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.
The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.
This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.
The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.
In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.
Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened
“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.
Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.
Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.
In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.
An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.
Enforcement efforts Questioned
By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.
“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).
The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.
The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.
“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.
Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem
Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.
“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.
Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.
Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.
“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.
“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.
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News
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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