LAHORE, Sept 28: The Punjab Anti-Corruption Department has arrested Data Ganj Bakhsh Town official Rana Maqbool Ahmad on the charge of illegally amassing money to the tune of billions of rupees.

According to a press release issued on Thursday, the anti-corruption director had received information that Rana Maqbool — who also owns the known Rana Academy having several branches in the city — has been working on various important posts for the last 10 years in the Local Government Department without regular appointment letters. He is currently posted as town officer (regulation).

Anti-corruption provincial director Muhammad Aslam Ghumman constituted an inquiry team, comprising senior officers of the department, which held the accused guilty of various offences.

According to the findings, Rana Maqbool started his career as an accounts officer in Kasur Tanneries Project in 1996 and as this project was finished, he got orders from the then prime minister for a three-year appointment in the Local Government Department on deputation.

As the accused was an employee of a private organisation, he could not be posted in any government department on deputation.

He, therefore, prepared bogus documents and joined the department where he completed his tenure in 2000. However, he continued to work in the department and no attention was paid to this irregularity.

The findings revealed that Rana Maqbool had during the last 10 years amassed assets to the tune of billions of rupees. Besides running more than 10 branches of the academy in the city, the report says, the accused also owns many luxury cars.

In the light of the evidence, Rana Maqbool has been arrested.