ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated inquiry into alleged corruption cases in the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), worth around Rs1 billion by the officers who deposited the money in personal accounts to get profit and made improper investments.

Since the PSQCA is an attached department of Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the accountability watchdog has asked the ministry to provide required documents and details to complete forensic audit related to around 55 suspicious transactions worth around Rs1 billion between 2014 to 2017 from various bank accounts.

The NAB report claims that the amount was transferred to several bank accounts reportedly for PSQCA investment but such transactions and suspicious investments were in violation of government rules and directives.

The latest letter has been forwarded by the MoST this week to the director general of PSQCA on Dec 13, 2022, demanding detailed information to conduct forensic audit of the PSQCA Investment Fund on an urgent basis.

Science ministry asked to submit documents required for audit of 55 transactions

Incidentally, communication by NAB this month was the second reminder, as the accountability bureau had earlier demanded the same information in May 2022.

On its part, the ministry has reprimanded PSQCA that the demand to provide relevant documents for the forensic audit of PSQCA has not been fulfilled for six months.

A letter from NAB was received on 19-5-2022 and the ministry had forwarded it to the PSQCA on 4-06-2022 demanding documents to conduct the ‘Forensic Audit of PSQCA Investment Funds’.

While, the ministry has asked the PSQCA to respond on an urgent basis within one day, sources in the ministry said that the letter has been received by the authority on Dec 16 and a reminder will be forwarded late next week if a reply was not received.

Whereas, the documents forwarded by NAB Rawalpindi to the ministry reveal that Ali Mohammad Bukhari, deputy director finance, PSQCA was allegedly involved in financial and administrative irregularities amounting to corruption.

NAB was conducting an inquiry and forensic audit of accounts of PSQCA on charges of suspicious transaction and financial embezzlement worth more than Rs1billion was uncovered.

The inquiry was initiated following audit reports of auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) about the massive financial irregularities and illegal appointments at the PSQCA.

Meanwhile, sources in the ministry said the issue faced by the PSQCA in forwarding the required documents was that the said officer had been sent on forced leave for a second time, and the authority was facing difficulty in getting key documents which he did not hand over to the finance department of PSQCA.

The ministry had earlier constituted a committee to probe into the matter, comprising former MoST Chief Finance and Accounts Officer Shahzad Naim and Assistant Accounts Officer (F&A) Adeel Ahmad.

The NAB documents also highlight that apart from suspicious transactions, Mr Bukhari, who served in the finance department of PSQCA from 2008 to 2022, was also involved in alleged financial irregularities regarding reinvestment worth more than Rs1billion in various bank branches related to term deposit receipts (TDRs) involving the pension fund of the PSQCA.

Meanwhile, a senior official of MoST said that another inquiry was in progress by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) related to illegal appointments in PSQCA that too were initiated by Mr Bukhari.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2022