The ongoing Rs40 billion financial scandal in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has taken a significant turn, with the Director General (DG) Audit uncovering over Rs21 billion in irregular and suspicious payments during the scrutiny of the 2023-24 fiscal year.
According to a report published by The News, the audit revealed that these payments were not recorded in the official ledgers and were also missing from the list of regular cheques issued by the relevant division.
Despite the findings being formally communicated to the Communications and Works Department, there has been no action taken so far. The department’s only response has been, “a reply will be provided later,” raising serious questions about the commitment to transparency and accountability within the department.
Official documents reveal that a designated head was responsible for managing two types of deposits—earnest money and retention money submitted by contractors.
According to the established guidelines, the earnest money should not have been refunded until the expiry of the financial or technical liability period, and retention money should be returned in two phases. However, the payments in question were made without following these procedures.
The audit of the records from the C&W Division in Upper Kohistan, conducted through the SAP financial management system, revealed payments of Rs21.37 that were made under Object Head G10113 for the 2023-24 fiscal year. However, these payments were not reflected in official accounts.
Further investigations uncovered that these transactions were absent from the official cheque list and that fake cheque books may have been used for the payments. This has raised doubts about the legitimacy of these transactions, and the payments have been deemed doubtful and unverified.
The audit report attributes this serious financial mismanagement to negligence and carelessness by the relevant staff. Despite being flagged in February 2025, the authorities have only stated that a written reply will be provided at a later date.
