A major financial fraud of over Rs 106 million has been exposed in a World Bank-funded project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The money was withdrawn on July 3, 2025, despite the provincial finance department having frozen all project funds on June 25. This has raised serious concerns about fraudulent checks, fake documents, and possible bank collusion.
According to official documents, the fraud was carried out using forged authority letters and fake reference numbers. The checks were cleared by a government bank without proper verification, even though no new checkbook was officially issued. The stolen amount was taken from the Human Capital Investment Project (KP-HCIP) account, supported by a Rs 26 billion World Bank grant.
The project’s Director Asif Shehzad revealed that the fraud was first detected by internal project staff. He said that neither he nor any authorized person had ever requested or received the checkbook used in the scam. He questioned how the checkbook was created and how it reached the hands of the fraudsters. This led to demands for a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) probe and recovery of the full amount.
Fake authority letters, forged signatures, and counterfeit stamps from the Accountant General’s office were allegedly used to clear the funds. The same reference number and duplicated check numbers added to the suspicions. The Project Management Unit (PMU) highlighted several lapses by the bank, which failed to verify these critical documents before processing the transactions.
In response, the bank has acknowledged the complaint and launched an internal inquiry. Regional Operations Executive Tauqeer Ahmed said the bank only processed the checks, while a private bank handled the actual withdrawals. He stated that all involved—inside or outside the project—will face action based on the inquiry’s findings. Investigations are still in the early stages, but collusion within the project staff has not been ruled out.