NAB arrests ex-govt official ‘who made over Rs1bn through corruption’

Mushtaq Ahmed Shaikh, former additional district accounts officer of

Hyderabad, owns several houses and plots, nine vehicles, 3kg gold

The Sindh chapter of the country’s anti-graft department has arrested a government official on charges of making more than one billion rupees through corruption.

Mushtaq Ahmed Shaikh, former additional district accounts officer of Hyderabad, was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a raid carried out in Karachi late on Friday night. He was remanded in custody on Saturday.

The arrest was made by a special investigation team constituted by NAB Karachi Director General Major (retd) Shabbir Ahmed, under the directives of NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, said a statement issued by the bureau.

Shaikh was apprehended on the basis of information obtained during interrogations of Head Constable Mohammad Yousuf (who has been terminated from service) and his son Police Constable Arif Yousuf of the Hyderabad Police, who had been arrested on corruption charges on February on 25 and 26.

A search operation was conducted at Shaikh’s residences, farm house, wedding hall and his illegal businesses located in Hala, Matiari. Several properties worth over Rs1 billion were found in his name, names of his close relatives and benamidars. The properties had allegedly been acquired from embezzlement of government funds.

According to the statement, the NAB team found Rs17.3 million in cash and prize bonds, 37,016 Saudi riyals, about three kilograms of gold ornaments, nine vehicles with ownership documents (including a Land Cruiser, Prado, imported in January 2017, a Toyota Corolla 2015, a Honda Civic 2014, a Toyota Viz Daihatsu Mira) Rado wrist watches, documents of two bungalows in DHA, Karachi, documents of two Plots in DHA, Karachi, documents of two plots in Bahria Sports City, Karachi, two houses in Hala, a farm house spread over 45 acres land in Hala, livestock (85 buffaloes, 31 cows, 30 goats), 200 acres of agriculture land in Hala, three houses in Qasimabad, Hyderabad, two flats in Hyderabad, savings certificates of Rs100,000, documents of investment in EMAAR Giga Karachi of Rs40 million, 31 cheaque books of various bank accounts and hundreds of original treasury bills illegally kept at a house.

The NAB further stated that Shaikh and Yousuf Khanzada are already facing a trial in a separate reference (No. 27/2016) filed on December 10, 2016, along with Ayaz Ahmed Abro, former accountant, Ahsanullah Abro, former sub-accountant of the District Accounts Office, Hyderabad, and Abu Bakar, former head constable of the Sindh Reserve Police, Hyderabad.

The case pertained to the embezzlement of huge government funds due to misuse of authority on the part of accused persons, who also entered into a voluntary return (VR) deal under Section 25(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and voluntarily agreed to return the entire misappropriated amount. However, the accused persons collectively returned to the national exchequer an amount of Rs97 million only from 2012 to 2013.

After their failure to return the looted money to the national exchequer, the decision to prosecute them was taken. The reference inquiry led to other clues and the money trail led to Shaikh.

The preliminary interrogation has showed that while Shaikh was in service, he misused his authority by fraudulently preparing bogus bills, as well as mixing some bogus bills with a lot of genuine bills in favour of bogus beneficiaries under the heads of difference bills, pensions, GP fund, salaries and allowances. He then got them processed and cleared through various bank accounts opened in connivance with bankers. 

The accused was the linchpin of organised crime and money-laundering. He had been operating a large gang consisting of private persons and incumbents of various district accounts offices, who had been jointly, or in connivance with each other, getting bogus payments cleared and subsequently withdrawing cash.

The interrogation has also showed that the accused, even after his retirement, had been operating privately as a facilitator in consideration of kickbacks and commissions; and had continued with his corrupt practice without impunity.

Such corrupt practices on the part of district accounts offices had continued over many years without impunity, until only recently when automated systems were put in place for processing treasury bills.

The regulatory offices have not been successful in putting curbs on these practices, as a consequence of which tax money has been squandered away.  The preventive reports and advisories under Section 33 © of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 have from time to time been issued to the authorities concerned in this regard, highlighting the modus operandi and suggestions to enforce internal accountability controls.

NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has extended his appreciation to the bureau’s Karachi DG and a special team, headed by Zafar Iqbal, the NAB director, along with Additional Director Adnan Abbas, for their two successful operations collectively involving recoveries of around Rs3 billion in ill-gotten properties within a short span of time.