RDA halts promotions amid fraud probe

Over a month after a major financial scandal involving Rs1.94 billion surfaced in the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), the administration has begun implementing key reforms to restore financial discipline.

As an initial step, the implementation of an irregular promotion has been halted, and a revised framework for financial authority has been introduced.

Under the new structure, the director finance and deputy director finance have been jointly authorised to approve financial transactions up to Rs0.5 million.

According to sources, these reforms come in response to ongoing investigations by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment, and a fact-finding committee set up by the chief secretary.

The scandal involved the unauthorised transfer of Rs1.94 billion in public funds to various companies and individuals through Call Deposit Receipts (CDRs).

In the first phase of corrective actions, the promotion of building inspector Nadeem Jamal has been suspended. Initially working in the engineering department, Jamal was promoted from Grade 11 to Building Superintendent (Grade 16) and subsequently to Assistant Director Engineering (Grade 17). However, a fresh directive has now halted the implementation of his most recent promotion, pending the committee's final decision.

In parallel, significant reshuffling has taken place within the finance department. Sohaib Ahmed Qazi, previously Director Finance, has been appointed Deputy Director State Management while continuing to hold additional charge of Director Finance and Administration. Meanwhile, Masood Arshad, formerly Deputy Director of State Management, has been reassigned as Deputy Director Finance.

Under the new management, both officials will co-sign all cheques up to Rs0.5 million and jointly manage the bank account used for RDA staff salaries, pensions, utility bills, and other routine expenses.

It is worth noting that a dual-signatory system for higher-value cheques was already in place—requiring signatures from both the director general and director finance for amounts exceeding Rs0.5 million.

However, years of weak oversight and poor monitoring enabled manipulation of the CDR mechanism, which ultimately led to the massive embezzlement.

Investigations suggest the CDR-based system remained unchecked for nearly a decade, allowing for widespread misuse of public funds.

NAB probes scam

On the other hand, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has begun summoning both serving and retired officers of the RDA in connection with the alleged embezzlement in government funds.

All former directors of administration and finance who served over the past decade are being called in phases, with summons already issued. Separately, the fact-finding inquiry committee set up by the Punjab chief secretary is scheduled to hold its second session on Wednesday (today) in Lahore to further investigate the matter.

On Monday, several key officials, including RDA Director Land Malik Ghazanfar, who has been the Director of Admin and Finance in RDA, Assistant Director Finance Waqar Asghar Raja, retired Assistant Director Khawaja Arshad Javed, and other officials from the Finance Directorate, appeared before NAB, Rawalpindi.