PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has filed a reference with an accountability court against former divisional forest officer Musa Khan Baloch, who is stated to be an associate of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, accusing him of accumulating illegal assets, embezzling official funds and making illegal appointments.

The reference filed with the court of judge Naveed Ahmad Khan is likely to be fixed for hearing in a next couple of days.

Besides prime suspect Musa Khan, the NAB has also charged three others, including an associate of Musa Khan, Mohammad Arsalan Aziz, and two foresters of the Dera Ismail Khan forest division, including Mohammad Farooq and Qaiser Abbas Baloch.

Musa Khan, who is also a member of the JUI-F, was arrested by the NAB KP in Sept last year.

He is also the chief of JUI-F, Paharpur tehsil, DI Khan, whereas his son, Tariq Baloch, is the personal secretary of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The NAB claims that the amount of money involved in the case totalled Rs56.03 million, which was about the assets of Musa Khan, his bank transactions and embezzlement of official funds.

The NAB alleges in the reference that the investigation had established that Musa Khan had made illegal appointment of his son and nephew to the department and that he, in league with other accused, embezzled a huge amount of funds of the Sustainable Land Management Programme, which was meant for the desertification and land degradation in the province.

It adds that the prime accused, who retired from the government service in 2017, possessed assets to the tune of Rs19.297 million, which was disproportionate to the known sources of his income.

According to the NAB, in 1993, almost three decades ago, the prime accused had spent Rs30,000 to perform Umra and part of that expenditure to the tune of Rs25,175 was made from unidentified sources.

The NAB also claims that Musa Khan maintained several accounts in different banks, wherein heavy transactions were made.

It adds that an examination of the bank transactions found Rs32.953 million to be unjustified.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2021