The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday arrested Balochistan Finance Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani in a raid at his office in the civil secretariat, officials said.
Raisani has been accused of embezzling billions of rupees from local government development funds, a senior NAB official, who did not want to be named, said.
The finance department was sealed during the raid while officials searched all rooms to sift through records, sources said, adding that records of the finance department were also seized for further investigation.
NAB officials later raided Raisani’s home where they found 12 bags full of money, including foreign currency and prize bonds. Three cash counting machines were deployed and a bank cashier’s assistance was sought to count the money which amounted to roughly Rs 730 million.
Raisani, an influential bureaucrat in Balochistan, has served as secretary finance for the last few years. He served in same position during the PPP government’s term.
After a string of arrests in Sindh, this is the first high profile arrest made by the accountability body in Balochistan during the PML-N government’s term as it seeks to unearth corruption worth billions of rupees in the provincial finance department’s development funds.
“More arrests are likely after interrogation of the secretary,” an official said.