ISLAMABAD – The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has expressed serious concerns over alleged financial irregularities involving millions of rupees in Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the fiscal year 2023-24, including suspected embezzlement at Pakistani diplomatic missions in Austria and Bulgaria.
The issue came under discussion during a PAC meeting chaired by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Naveed Qamar, where audit officials presented details of alleged financial misconduct by accountants at the two embassies.
According to audit officials, Salman Qureshi, an accountant at Pakistan’s embassy in Austria, allegedly misappropriated Rs165.6 million and transferred the funds into his and his wife’s personal bank accounts.
Officials informed the committee that the matter had been referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which had registered two FIRs. The suspect was arrested but was later released on bail.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the investigation’s progress, Qamar questioned why only FIRs had been registered despite six years having passed since the case emerged. He criticised the FIA’s performance and directed its director general to attend the committee’s next meeting.
Foreign Secretary Asim Iftikhar informed the committee that the accused employee had been dismissed immediately after the incident came to light. He added that the Foreign Ministry had initiated legal proceedings before the audit authorities identified the irregularity. The misappropriated amount was equivalent to 170,000 euros, he said.
The PAC directed the Foreign Secretary to conduct another inquiry and submit a report within one month. Committee members also questioned whether such a substantial financial irregularity could have occurred without the involvement of other officials.
The committee also examined an alleged embezzlement of Rs29 million by an accountant at Pakistan’s embassy in Bulgaria.
Audit officials said an inquiry committee was established on September 10, 2026, to investigate the matter. However, austerity measures had prevented the committee from travelling abroad to conduct its investigation.
Officials said the accountant had initially admitted responsibility but later changed his statement after being dismissed. Following a court order, he was reinstated.
The PAC expressed concern and recommended allowing the inquiry committee to travel abroad to investigate the allegations.
During the meeting, Foreign Ministry officials also struggled to provide satisfactory answers to several audit objections concerning diplomatic missions.
Questions regarding the suspense account of Pakistan’s High Commission in Dhaka and the ownership of a community school in Abu Dhabi remained unresolved.
Audit officials revealed that millions of rupees had been paid from the embassy’s Community Welfare Fund to a privately owned community school in Abu Dhabi.
When PAC Chairman Naveed Qamar asked whether the Foreign Secretary was satisfied with his officials’ responses, Asim Iftikhar acknowledged that he was not.
The committee also discussed a Rs100 million loan taken by Pakistan’s embassy in Berlin from the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) scholarship fund. Audit officials said the amount had not been returned even after three years.
The Foreign Secretary explained that the money had been obtained from the HEC account because of delays in the government’s budgetary allocations.
Qamar questioned who had authorised the Foreign Ministry to use funds allocated for higher education scholarships, expressing strong reservations over the arrangement.
