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       PESHAWAR: An accountability court on Saturday gave the National Accountability Bureau an additional five-day custody of four suspects in a high-profile case involving the alleged embezzlement of Rs36 billion funds in the Upper Kohistan district accounts office.

       Judge Mohammad Zafar directed the NAB officials to produce the suspects before him on July 23.

       The suspects included former district account officer of Upper Kohistan Shafiqur Rehman, auditor of the accountant general office Fazal Hussain, former bank official-turned-contractor Mohammad Riaz and former manager of a private bank Tahir Tanveer.

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       The NAB has so far arrested eight suspects in the case. The four other arrested suspects are contractors Doraj Khan, Amir Said, Subedar Khan and Mohammad Ayub.

       They are held for ‘misappropriating’ over Rs36bn funds

       The suspects were produced before the court by the NAB officials after completion of their earlier physical remand.

       Deputy prosecutor general Mohammad Ali and other officers sought further physical custody of the four suspects, saying that they’re involved in the illegal withdrawal and misappropriation of over Rs36.63 billion from the contractors security deposit head of an account, G-10113.

       They said that on credible information the NAB KP had started an inquiry and during preliminary probe it revealed that officials of the communication and works department, Upper Kohistan, in connivance with officials of district accounts office, Upper Kohistan, and NBP branch there, had misappropriated funds from different projects through bogus withdrawal of funds from the national treasury in the name of several contractors, who had not executed any civil work.

       Mr Ali and other officers claimed that being the then district accounts officer in Upper Kohistan, Shafiqur Rehman had abused his authority to endorse fraudulent cheques without proper verification, exploiting weaknesses in the system to facilitate unauthorized withdrawal of huge sums from the said Head of Account G-10113.

       They added that he had joined hands and colluded with the communication and works department officials, contractors and bank officials in the embezzlement of the amount on the basis of smooth execution of illicit transactions by manipulating financial records, bypass the oversight mechanisms and coordinated with the co-accused to misappropriate the public funds.

       The officials argued that the suspects in league with each other fraudulently submitted fake bills and got issued different cheques in favour of different companies owned by several contractors from head of Account “G-10113” for earnest money, security and deposit funds of local government, C&W, irrigation and public health departments on the pretext of civil work, which had never been done.

       The accountability courts have so far confirmed several NAB orders to freeze dozens of moveable and immovable properties, including luxurious residences, commercial plazas and plots, expensive vehicles and cash, including foreign currency.

       COMMENTS SOUGHT: The Peshawar High Court has given seven days to the NAB to respond to a petition filed by Mohammad Riaz for declaring his arrest illegal and contrary to the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

       A bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Farah Jamshed fixed July 29 for hearing the petition.

       Advocate Ameenur Rehman Yousafzai appeared for the petitioner and stated that the petitioner had appeared in the NAB, KP on May 13, 2025, in relation to an ongoing inquiry against officials of district accounts office Kohistan.

       He said that during inquiry, on the verbal directions of NAB, KP officials, the petitioner submitted an application on May 16 under section 25 (a) of the NAO for ‘voluntary return’. He added that the petitioner was again issued a call-up notice and when he came to the NAB’s office on July 11, 2025, he was confined in lock-up and was also severely tortured.

       The lawyer referred to Section 24 of the NAO and argued that a suspect could only be arrested if he was intentionally not joining the investigation, was attempting to abscond and there were sufficient grounds that he would temper with the records and when there was credible information regarding the repetition of offence under the ordinance.

       He argued that in the case in question, the NAB had no justification to arrest the petitioner.

       The counsel said that the NAB had no authority to arrest a person when he had already joined the investigation and had not been absconding.

       Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2025