Officer facing Rs3.2bn reference wears two hats

Karachi: The Sindh Finance Department recently assigned an additional position of Additional Accounts Officer-III to Ashraf Janawri, Additional Accounts Officer II, Hyderabad, a prime accused of Rs3.2 billion embezzlement and money laundering in the same District Accounts Office (DAO) of Hyderabad.

Sindh Finance Department officer Mr Janwari is facing a NAB reference at the Accountability Court, Karachi, along with his 84 other co-accused.

Besides this, the Sindh Finance Department also posted another officer of the Sindh Finance Department Naveed Bajari, co-accused of the same high-level embezzlement case at the same District Accounts Office on an important position in the same district.

As per the documentary evidence, both the officers in June 2024 disbursed an amount mainly in the head of food (dietary) of Rs149.49 million, a liability of the previous financial year, to the Sindh Prison Department DAO, Hyderabad without mandatory permission of the Sindh Finance Department.

As per official documentary evidence available with The News, in 2022, Ashraf Janwari, Naveed Bajari, Saifullah Magsi, Aijaz Ali Dawach, Majid Ali along with 80 others, were booked by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly misusing their authority and misappropriating Rs3.2 billion from the pension accounts in District Accounts Office (DAO), Hyderabad through fake pension vouchers and agriculture refund claims in collusion with one another during the period between 2010 and 2017. All the accused were also charged with money laundering from Pakistan to Dubai and other foreign countries.

Besides, the said embezzlement, an extra amount of more than Rs8 billion was released by the Sindh Finance Department, Karachi from FY2010-11 to FY2021-22 without being sanctioned in the budget, and such an amount was subsequently misappropriated through alleged fake vouchers and agriculture refund claims at the Hyderabad Treasury.

NAB had found all 84 suspects to be involved in embezzling Rs3.2 billion from the pension accounts in the DAO, Hyderabad through fake pension vouchers and fake agriculture refund vouchers, causing losses to the national exchequer.

Therefore, they allegedly committed an offense punishable under the provisions of the NAO, 1999, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.

Secretary Sindh Finance Department Fayaz Jatoi told The News that the officer having the post of Additional District Account Officer-III was seriously ill and therefore, Mr Janwari was assigned an additional position, however, he showed his unawareness about the allegations of corruption against the said officers Mr Janwari and Mr Bajari. Mr Jatoi added that he would check the position and if there were any allegations of corruption against them, action would be taken and they would be removed from their posts; however, Mr Jatoi did not reply regarding the funds disbursed to the Sindh Prison Department.