ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi, on Thursday arrested Tahir Maqbool Khakwani, additional director/member of the consultants hiring committee of the National Testing Services, after finding that the top NTS management was involved in a Rs158 million corruption scam.

The NTS is a private organisation which conducts hundreds of tests for admission in educational institutions and appointments in government organisations.

Interestingly, a large number of posts in NAB have also been filled through mandatory NTS test.

Probe shows Tahir Khakwani in connivance with accomplices manipulated payment of false claims

NAB chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal has already sought a report on an inquiry being conducted by the Rawalpindi NAB against alleged corruption, leakage of different question papers and other irregularities in the NTS on several complaints.

Some unscrupulous elements in the top management of NTS have been found involved in corruption as they are playing with the future of the students/candidates.

A press release issued by NAB said: “They are involved in maladministration and financial irregularities and have caused a loss of more than Rs158 million to the organisation.”

It said accused Tahir Maqbool Khakwani, in connivance with NTS chief executive officer Haroon Rashid, had recruited fake consultants through regional heads for misappropriating/embezzling huge chunks of amounts from NTS funds and they had used these amounts for personal gains/benefits.

The arrested accused with his accomplices manipulated the payments of false claims of factitious consultancy through bank cheques and proceeds of these cheques were received in cash by the accused for their personal uses.

During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that accused Khakwani, in connivance with his accomplices, had manipulated the payment of false claims through cheques issued in the name of false consultants.

After sending money to the accounts of fake consultants, the part of the amount in question was received back by the accused in cash through respective regional heads.

Besides allegations of corruption in the NTS, earlier the organisation was charging full fee ranging from Rs400 to Rs1,000 from each student and candidate who appeared in the tests.

But recently the Supreme Court asked the government to direct the NTS to charge half of the total fee from the students and the rest would be paid by the relevant government organisations.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2018