Islamabad Club has reportedly kicked out senior bureaucrats and officials of the National Endowment Scholarships for Talent (NEST) for embezzling millions of rupees from scholarships meant for students.
To restore its image in the public’s eyes, the club has also reimbursed Rs. 25 million misused by the officials to obtain memberships to NEST.
Earlier, it was reported that two senior bureaucrats, along with four officials of the National Endowment Scholarships for Talent (NEST), misused around Rs. 25 million meant for needy students and got membership in the Islamabad Club.
NEST’s Board of Directors (BOD) reportedly nominated Athar Hussain Zaidi, Faysal Qasim, Qamar Safdar, and Quratulain Talha for Islamabad Club membership in November 2021.
CEO NEST allegedly approved the request before getting transferred to Gilgit Baltistan (GB) as Chief Secretary. Asim Iqbal then became the CEO and allegedly released Rs. 25 million to the Islamabad Club. He was then posted in Cabinet Division as Additional Secretary.
Later, the clarified that he did not release the funds for memberships of NEST officials. He wasn’t the CEO when funds were transferred to Islamabad Club.
The clarification from the first CEO gave rise to controversy and Education Ministry dug deeper. The Ministry asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to verify the authenticity of the signatures of the first CEO.
The four officers mentioned above along with two senior bureaucrats were sacked. The Ministry also requested Islamabad Club to reimburse Rs. 25 million to NEST as this amount was not released in a transparent way.
No Jail time for these MFs? No wonder anybody is afraid in this country.