ISLAMABAD – A senior bureaucrat has been accused of making a staggering Rs 8 million in a short period of three days by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP).

A report recently presented by the AGP to the Parliament divulged that Shahid Khan, a former secretary of the Interior Ministry and the incumbent secretary to the president of Pakistan allegedly amassed large sums of money through a commercial plot.

The report states that Shahid Khan had been offered a commercial plot measuring 200 square yards by the NPF in Sector E-11 for Rs2 million in 2014.

The plot was officially handed over to him on December 5, 2014, but the auditors were taken aback to learn that Khan sold the plot for Rs10 million, exactly three days later on December 8.

The audit objected to NPF over the sale of the plot at a price well below market rates.

“The price of the plot was not determined as per prevailing market rates at the time of offering allotment. The sale of the plot at five times the purchase price within three days clearly shows the disparity in the pricing mechanism of NPF … The audit is of the view that the plot was allotted only to benefit the individual,” the audit report read.

The AGP  recommended an inquiry into the dubious deal to fix responsibility apart from recovering the market cost of the plot.

“Audit recommends that market cost of the plot may be recovered besides fixing the responsibility [for underselling],” the report said.

Interestingly, the Public Accounting Officer was told about the who saga on December 5, 2016, but the departmental accounts committee was not convened till the audit report was finalized.

Khan, when contacted by the newspaper, declined to comment on the issue.

“The issue will be settled in court. I have done nothing illegal,” he stated.

The NPF was set up in 1975 under the Charitable Endowment Act for the welfare of police officials. The Interior secretary heads its committee of administration as an ex-officio chairman.