An accountability court in Peshawar has approved a plea bargain of Rs513.138 million in the Kohistan scandal, 24NewsHD reported on Friday.
The accused, Musharraf Shah, a former bank cashier, admitted to having earned ill-gotten money worth Rs490.23 million, with a profit of Rs200.7 million, according to the report. The court, under Section 15 of the plea bargain, ordered the release of the accused after he deposited the penalty, and observed that he would be treated as a convicted and disqualified person.
Under Sections 9(a) and 15 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, an approved plea bargain results in a conviction record, mandatory discharge from liability upon surrendering the proceeds of crime, and lifelong disqualification from holding public office.
The Kohistan scandal involves the alleged embezzlement of more than Rs37 billion from the contractors’ security deposit head of account, G-10113, in the Upper Kohistan district accounts office. According to investigators, treasury cheques were issued for fake development projects, with no actual work carried out. The main accused is Qaiser Iqbal, a head clerk in the communication and works department, and more than 40 people have been arrested in the case so far.
According to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sources, corruption amounting to more than Rs45 billion was allegedly committed in the scandal, of which around Rs30 billion has so far been recovered. A series of plea bargains has been approved in the case in recent months, including a Rs4.05 billion recovery from Mumtaz Khan, described as a frontman of the main accused, and a Rs409.6 million plea bargain by Hareeq Ahmad, who served as an operations manager at a private bank in Dasu, Kohistan. An accountability court also approved a Rs38.05 million plea bargain by a private contractor, Saran Zeb, earlier this year. The Peshawar High Court has also issued a notice to NAB over the arrest of an accused despite his plea bargain request, in a writ petition filed by Muhammad Riaz.
The plea bargain approved on Friday is the latest in the case, in which NAB has described the recoveries as among the largest in its history. The accused will now stand disqualified from public office for life under the law.
