PESHAWAR – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has made a major breakthrough in the Rs. 40 billion Kohistan mega corruption scandal by arresting eight key suspects, including two senior government officials, two bankers, and four contractors.
The scandal is being described as the largest financial corruption case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s history.
The arrests were made after investigators uncovered strong evidence of massive financial irregularities involving fake treasury cheques, fraudulent construction firms, and illegal transfers of government funds through benami (fictitious) accounts.
The accused are believed to have collaborated with officials from the Communications and Works (C&W) Department to siphon off billions of rupees allocated for development projects in Upper Kohistan.
Those arrested include Shafiq ur Rehman Qureshi, a District Accounts Officer, who has been identified as the central figure in the approval and signing of fake treasury cheques under budget head G-10113 for non-existent development schemes.
Other arrested individuals include Mohammad Riaz, a former bank cashier who also acted as a dummy contractor; Fazal Hussain, an auditor at the AG Office in Peshawar; Tahir Tanveer, a former bank manager; and four contractors identified as Duraj Khan, Amir Saeed, Subaidar and Mohammad Ayub.
The investigation revealed a well-organized network involving fake billing, money laundering and financial fraud. The bank employees allegedly facilitated the illegal transfer of government funds while dummy construction firms were created to justify non-existent projects.
The NAB sources said that the official documents and financial records clearly establish the involvement of the arrested individuals.
The anti-corruption watchdog has expanded its investigation and indicated that more arrests are likely in the coming days as deeper links and broader involvement are uncovered in the scam.
