NAB recovers Rs285m from education dept official

Officer was allegedly involved in illegal appointments

HYDERABAD: In a successive action in Hyderabad division resulting in substantial recovery of allegedly embezzled public funds, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered possessions worth Rs285 million from an arrested suspect.

The possessions belong to Bachu Mal, a BPS-16 office superintendent in the education department, whose house in Hyderabad was raided on Saturday.

Cash, property papers and vehicles worth around Rs285 million were recovered during the raid, according to NAB's deputy director and acting spokesperson, Rizwan Soomro.

"The accused was a key player in illegal appointments in the Mirpurkhas district education department. He has been defrauding the poor applicants and job seekers by giving them fake appointment orders," reads a statement issued by NAB.
Mal also allegedly facilitated persons joining the department against fake orders in connivance with other officials in the education department. According to NAB's investigation team, by abusing his authority, Mal accumulated properties and bank balance worth millions of rupees in his name and in the names of his close relatives.
"… documents, files and crucial evidence related to [these] fraudulent appointments were also recovered during the raid," reads the statement.

Mal has also been booked in another NAB reference, filed in May last year, nominating 22 education officials and staff from Mirpurkhas. In that reference, Mal is accused of releasing Rs97 million in fake salaries disbursed against 164 fake appointments. He avoided arrest via pre-arrest bail granted by the Sindh High Court.
NAB will name him in another reference on charges of accumulating assets beyond known sources of income.
Recoveries made from his residence include prize bonds worth Rs40 million, documents of 11 apartments in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas, a plot in Hyderabad and two vehicles valued at Rs2.5 million. The combined worth of his property is estimated to be Rs90 million. Another Rs80 million of bank transactions in the bank accounts have also been found.