AIOU Administration Unearths Rs23 Million Embezzlement
Islamabad :August 19: A financial embezzlement, involving Rs23 million, has been unearthed by the administration of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) which immediately referred the case to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to identify the officials involved in it, sources told this correspondent here on Sunday.
Sources said that the AIOU administration referred the corruption scandal to the NAB on August 15 in line with the recommendation of an inquiry committee which identified financial corruption in the amount of admission fee submitted in the account of the university.
An official confided to this correspondent that the purpose of referring the corruption case to the NAB is to ensure that there is no victimisation and everything is done in a transparent manner.
The initial investigation was initiated in May this year after which an inquiry committee was constituted to vigorously probe into the matter. The committee reviewed the official record and confirmed in its final report that some officials are allegedly involved in the embezzlement of money,” sources said.
An official confided to this correspondent that admission forms are generally disposed off after one year but this time the administration decided to carry out physical verification of these forms to ascertain whether there was any financial irregularity in the amount of fee submitted by students.
When we reviewed, we came to know that there was a difference of Rs23 million between the fee received by the concerned officials and submitted in the account of the university,” he said.
Sources said no one knew how much money was illegally grabbed out of the admission fee as all record of admission forms before 2012 has been burnt or disposed off leaving no chance for anybody to check its authenticity.
It is pertinent to mention here that the admission forms along with prescribed fee could be submitted in the countrywide branches of five commercial banks and the AIOU administration was responsible to keep vigil over the whole process.
AIOU Vice Chancellor Dr. Nazir Ahmad Sangi told this correspondent that when he came to know about financial irregularities in the amount of fee submitted by students he immediately formed a committee to probe into the matter.
He said the committee recommended internal inquiry but after pondering over the corruption case they have decided to refer it to the NAB to identify the culprits and take strict action against them in line with rules and procedures.
Dr. Nazir Sangi said when he directed the administration to also review previous record of the admission forms he was informed that all record was disposed off after one year, adding “So I directed them to review all admission fee record that is currently available to them.”
“The inquiry committee unearthed financial irregularities and now I think it is necessary to take action against those involved in the case to ensure a transparent culture in the affairs of the university,” he said.The news.
