Khyber Pakhtunkhwa audit reveals 18 billion rupee financial scandal

An audit report has uncovered a significant financial scandal involving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company during the PTI administration. The report indicates that mismanagement, poor planning, and administrative failures resulted in a loss of approximately 18.46 billion rupees to the public treasury during the 2024-25 period.

Key findings include a failure to recover 2.08 billion rupees in land lease payments from industrial owners despite court orders. Additionally, the report highlights a loss of 629.8 million rupees due to the non-renewal of commercial land agreements under a new policy introduced in 2024. Other losses stem from the failure to recover land in Buner, Mohmand, and Jalozai, totaling 1.07 billion rupees, and the illegal allocation of commercial land for industrial use, costing 174.1 million rupees.

The report specifically notes that the company failed to collect 497.8 million rupees from Al-Hadeed Engineering for a 10-acre plot in Haripur. Furthermore, the company faces estimated potential liabilities of 14 billion rupees, which poses a serious threat to its ongoing business operations.