NAB begins investigation into Roosevelt Hotel closure

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi has begun an investigation into reasons behind the reported closure of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

The national graft buster wrote to various institutions, including the national flag carrier, to submit relevant record. Sources relayed the bureau has got its hands on key documents and is in the process of obtaining further records.

The NAB will also look into the role of the government’s task force on the airline’s iconic hotel situated in Manhattan.

Last month, NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal had tasked the Rawalpindi bureau office to carry out the investigation. The bureau will look into reasons behind the closure of the hotel as well as the losses it had accruing to the national exchequer.

Earlier, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had refuted reports circulating in certain quarters regarding the sale of PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

“There is no agenda or program under consideration to sell the iconic Roosevelt Hotel New York,” said Minister of Aviation Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Khan had said. He had termed the news circulating in certain quarters as “speculation” and nothing more than “political point-scoring.”