ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: An inquiry into embezzlements made during fuel purchase for vehicles at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has reached its final stage.

IIUI has 140 vehicles in its fleet for which fuel purchases were made in quantities far greater than the capacity of fuel tanks since 1984. Insiders claim that in recent months, fuel worth Rs6 million was being bought every month.

Even though the scam was unearthed four years back, NAB had to intervene when the university management failed to take action, Dawn has learnt.

Sources revealed that during an internal audit in 2008 it was found that the transport section of IIUI had deposited purchase slips that showed that the fuel bought exceeded the capacity of the petrol tanks.

An officer of the university on request of anonymity said: “The audit team decided to probe the issue thoroughly, and learnt that the university’s transport section had been over-billing since 1984.”

“The receipts of the filling stations which were recovered during the audit included Capri Filling Station in F-6 Civic Centre, Midway Petroleum in Sector H-11 and another filling station in Sector G-9 Markaz,” he added.

“The matter was brought to the notice of IIUI’s management but no one bothered to take action against the relevant officers, after which fingers were also raised at the management,” he claimed.

According to another source, NAB finally took notice of the scam in August 2012, and Assistant Director NAB Waqarul Hasan was appointed as the investigation officer of the case.

On August 18, a NAB team raided the transport section of the university and confiscated records. A second raid was conducted on August 28 on the main office of IIUI and records present there were also seized.

“During the investigation, the name of Additional Director Transport Section Saifur Rehman and some other officers came up, and there is a possibility that they will be arrested in the next few days,” the source alleged.

Another faculty member of the university requesting anonymity told Dawn that every month fuel worth Rs6 million was being used by university vehicles, and it is a big scam that went unnoticed for a long time.

“There are so many other issues at IIUI which should be investigated as well,” he added.

“The management has been involved in illegal purchases of equipment, award of contracts, appointments and so many other issues but officers were never made accountable for their misdeeds,” he accused.

When Dawn spoke to acting rector of the university, Prof Dr Masoom Yasinzai, he said he had decided to cooperate with the investigation team of the NAB.  “The team is in possession of all records pertaining to the transport section of the university. It is difficult to believe that officials stole fuel through overbilling but the record has been handed over to NAB to probe it,” he said.

Investigation Officer (IO) of NAB Waqarul Hasan told Dawn that the inquiry was underway.

“Saifur Rehman is just one suspect in the case, and soon we will be closing the inquiry,” he hoped.