An accountability court dismissed former Balochistan finance secretary Mushtaq Raisani’s plea bargain request.
The court returned the request and the record after hearing the National Accountability Bureau prosecutor and investigation officer.
NAB’s Executive Board in a surprise move in December accepted the plea bargain request of more than Rs 2 billion of Balochistan finance secretary Mushtaq Ahmad Raisani and Sohail Majeed Shah, contractor and frontman of Khalid Langove, ex-adviser to CM Balochistan for Finance.
Raisani has embezzled money worth Rs 40 billion, according to media reports.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman came out in support of the plea bargain law, which allows an individual to pay back the amount they have embezzled to the public exchequer and the case closes against them.
Raisani was apprehended in May, this year, during a raid on offices of the finance department at Quetta Civil Secretariat, after over Rs 650 million in cash, including local and foreign currency and gold jewellery weighing several kilogrammes, was recovered from his residence. Following Raisani’s arrest and the recovery of embezzled money, the provincial finance adviser Khalid Langove also immediately offered his resignation from the post. The finance department was also sealed during the raid while officials searched all rooms to sift through records. Records of the finance department were also seized for further investigation.