PESHAWAR: At the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) session, Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Kohistan Lower, Sajjadullah Khan claimed that AG office, auditor general and finance department are equally responsible for the massive financial scandal of Kohistan.
Chaired by Speaker of the Provincial Assembly Babar Saleem Swati, witnessed intense questioning and strong criticism of key government departments over their failure to prevent the massive Rs 36 billion embezzlement scandal in Kohistan.
Speaker Swati questioned the performance of oversight institutions, stating, “NAB will do its job, but what were these other departments doing till now? Why do such large institutions exist if they only wait for NAB to act?”
Echoing these concerns, MPA Arbab Usman criticised the delay in detecting the corruption. “If people commit corruption worth Rs 36 billion, you find out only later?” he asked.
MPA Sajjadullah went further, claiming the scale of corruption was even higher. “If you look at it, these people are ignorant—more than Rs 36 billion has been looted. Isn’t it the responsibility of the concerned department to verify the documents during preparation?” he asked. Sajjadullah held the AG Office, the Auditor General, and the Finance Department equally responsible for the scandal.
In a detailed briefing to the committee, Finance Advisor Muzammil Aslam shared financial figures for development funds released from 2019 to 2024. According to him, Rs 4.16 billion was released to the C&W Department for three districts of Kohistan, while Rs 594 billion was allocated for development works across the settled districts of the province. He added that Rs 125 billion was spent on the road sector over six years, and Rs 8 to 10 billion was allocated for contractor security.
Despite these allocations, departments began distancing themselves from the scandal. “We are not responsible for this embezzlement because we do not maintain the accounts,” claimed the Secretary of Finance.
Speaker Swati challenged this assertion: “How can such massive corruption not be your responsibility?”
Adding to the confusion, Secretary C&W stated, “The check is issued by the District Account Officer.” He then questioned why neither the AG Office nor the Finance Department had flagged the irregular withdrawals. “Why didn’t they know such a huge amount was being withdrawn?”
The C&W Department maintained that a full investigation would reveal whose signatures were on the checks. “Everything will come to light,” said C&W Secretary Israr.
The Speaker pressed further: “Should I understand that the Accounts Section of C&W withdrew the money in collusion with the Finance and AG Offices?”
Read also: Speaker KP assembly lashes out at Finance, C&W departments over 36 billion embezzlement in Kohistan
Secretary Israr responded unequivocally: “Yes, that is exactly the case.”
As investigations continue, the PAC has vowed to hold all responsible departments accountable, stressing that systemic lapses enabled one of the largest corruption scandals in the province’s history.
