PESHAWAR – In a major development in the ongoing Kohistan mega corruption scandal, an accountability court on Tuesday granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a seven-day physical remand of contractor Fazal Rahim, who was arrested last week in connection with the case.
Rahim was presented before the accountability court, where the NAB officials requested a 14-day remand to continue investigations.
The court approved a seven-day remand instead, handing the accused over to NAB custody.
NAB prosecutors informed the court that Fazal Rahim was allegedly involved in suspicious bank transactions amounting to Rs300 million and had accumulated illegal assets. He was arrested from Kohistan on July 19 as part of NAB’s broader crackdown in the multi-billion-rupee scam.
The Kohistan scandal involves large-scale financial irregularities in development projects, and the NAB officials have so far arrested 10 individuals including government officials, bankers and contractors.
In a related development, the accountability court also extended the physical remand of another accused, Muhammad Ayub, by five more days. Ayub was earlier remanded for seven days but, according to NAB, further interrogation is needed.
The investigating officer revealed that transactions worth over Rs3.45 billion have been traced in the case, along with evidence of unlawfully acquired assets.
The court partially accepted NAB’s request for a 14-day extension and instead granted a five-day remand, directing the bureau to expedite its investigation.
NAB arrests eight key suspects in Rs40bn Kohistan mega corruption scandal
