Reference ready: NAB unearths Rs10bn corruption in BRT Peshawar

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has uncovered an alleged corruption scandal amounting to Rs10 billion in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar project.

The anti-corruption watchdog has compiled a reference against multiple accused involved in this significant corruption case.

Sources told the Hum Investigation Team (HIT) that investigators have finalised their report, forming a crucial part of an impending reference scheduled for filing in the accountability court.

The report presents compelling evidence against contractors and their accomplices.

During the investigation, the NAB team also sought assistance from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to apprehend a key accused who is currently absconded abroad.

 Officials familiar with the matter stated that the FIA will forward the NAB team’s request, accompanied by a court order, to the International Police (Interpol) to bring the accused contractor to justice.

Throughout the inquiry, it was revealed that the project’s cost escalated from Rs49.346 billion to Rs66.437 billion, according to the revised PC-I. This surge in project cost was attributed to mismanagement, frequent design changes, malpractices in contract management, and illegal benefits granted during contract awards. These factors led to the project’s prolonged completion time, causing a substantial loss to the government exchequer, as detailed in official documents obtained by HIT.

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Official documents also disclosed that performance guarantees totaling Rs2.12 billion, submitted by CR21G-Maqbool-Calsons JV for Reach-II & III, were initially found to be fake.

Subsequently, these fake guarantees were replaced with guarantees issued by the Bank of West Indies, New York branch, locally forwarded by Trust Investment Bank and supported by a SWIFT message from PLG Global Bank USA. Additionally, six other guarantees related to performance security and mobilization advance security were identified as fraudulent.

The accused, in collusion with each other, caused a financial loss of Rs7007.803 million and $5.57 million to the exchequer, according to the documents. Syed Masood Hussain Shah, the Chief Executive Officer of M/s Maqbool Associates, stands out as a key accused in this case. He signed various joint venture agreements and supplementary agreements, orchestrating a scheme to pay a 2% management fee to the Chinese lead partners and ensuring that construction work would be carried out by M/s Maqbool and M/s Calsons.

The accused further submitted counterfeit financial documents to bolster his company’s financial position, thereby securing contracts through fraudulent means. As the Managing Director of M/s Maqbool Associates, he benefited from overpayments and incurred losses identified by experts, making him jointly and severally responsible for the substantial losses incurred by the State exchequer.

The accused, in collaboration with officials of PDA, allegedly received undue benefits by securing contracts based on falsified financials and subsequently received substantial overpayments. Notice for the recovery of such payments has been issued, indicating that he dishonestly and fraudulently obtained illegal payments, exposing the exchequer to considerable losses. Despite attempts to contact the accused for their version, they remained unreachable at the time of filing this report.