PESHAWAR: NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has arrested Arshad Khan, ex-director general of the FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA). He was presently posted as Additional Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Irfanullah Ex-Assistant Director of FDMA has also been arrested over the corruption charges.
NAB Spokesman Saadullah Khan said that the officials were allegedly involved in embezzlement of funds in Housing Uniform Assistance Subsidy Project (HUASP) for Bajour Agency and looted more than Rs 300 million.
As per details, under the Housing Uniform Assistance Subsidy Project the government of Pakistan with the assistance of USAID paid compensation to internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) whose houses had been damaged in the military operation against the miscreants. Under the project Rs 400,000/- were paid to each individual whose houses had been completely damaged, while Rs 160,000/- were paid to owners of the partially damaged houses. Total payment of almost Rs 2.5 billion rupees was made under the project to almost 10,000 affectees of Bajur Agency.
During the course of inquiry it was revealed that the accused Arshad Khan, being Director General (FDMA) in connivance with Assistant Director Irfan Ullah and others managed to embezzle millions of rupees in compensations payment meant for the affectees of terrorism after operation in Bajour Agency. The accused Irfan Ullah in connivance with other officials prepared hundreds of counterfeit survey forms of fake/ineligible affectees and afterwards included the same in the payment lists in order to embezzle public money. While Arshad Khan illegally granted approval to all those ineligible / fake affectees of Bajour Agency and deviously misled PDMA / PaRRSA for illegal payments, thus breached the trust which the Govt has imposed upon him. In nutshell, accused Arshad Khan, Irfan Ullah and other crony accused persons remained hand in glove with each other to fulfill their nefarious design of embezzlements of funds for illegal monetary gain.
It merits mentioning here, Arshad Khan Ex-Director Director FDMA, was in judicial custody after getting arrested by NAB(KP) for embezzling Rs. 60 Million in the name of ghost affectees of Mohmand Agency major portion of which has already been recovered.
NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa actively perusing the case and more alarming facts and names of some high profile persons are expected to come forth in the scam. The accused persons will be produced before Accountability Court Peshawar for obtaining their physical remand.