PESHAWAR: Four individuals accused in the high-profile Kohistan financial scandal have formally submitted applications for a plea bargain before the accountability court, according to reliable sources within the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Among those seeking relief is Qaiser, head clerk of the Communication and Works (C&W) Department, who is regarded as one of the central figures in the case. He has filed the plea bargain request alongside his wife and two other alleged benamidars.
The applicants have conveyed their willingness to return the outstanding amounts owed to NAB, with the intention of settling their liabilities through the legal provision of plea bargain.
Insiders confirmed that NAB will undertake a thorough evaluation of the suspects’ declared and undeclared assets, in addition to calculating the precise sums recoverable from them.
Only after this scrutiny is finalized will the matter be forwarded for approval to the NAB chairman, whose authorization is essential for the plea bargain to proceed.
Investigators have alleged that Qaiser played a pivotal role in the Upper Kohistan development funds scandal, under which nearly Rs 40 billion were withdrawn in the name of public development projects.
However, on-site inspections and audits have revealed that these schemes never materialized on the ground, raising alarms over systematic embezzlement.
According to NAB, the accused utilized fraudulent means to accumulate substantial movable and immovable assets. These properties and investments were placed not only under Qaiser’s own name but also under the names of his wife and other relatives in order to conceal the illicit wealth.
The suspects, however, have now expressed readiness to negotiate a return of these assets and funds through the plea bargain mechanism.
The scandal, which revolves around non-existent development projects and the diversion of billions of rupees, has sparked renewed debate about accountability, transparency, and governance in Pakistan’s public sector.
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