4 govt officials booked by J&K SVO for embezzlement of funds

Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Organisation today registered a case against four senior government officials for allegedly embezzling funds meant for salaries of employees and implementation of schemes in Budgam district.
"A case under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and Ranbir Penal Code has been registered against the then Block Medical Officer (BMO), Beerwah, Fayaz Ahmad Banday, and three other officials after a verification proved their involvement in the scandal," a spokesman of the SVO said.
He said the SVO conducted a verification following allegations of misappropriation of funds by Banday in connivance with then Cashier, Mushtaq Ahmad Parray, then Pharmacist, Zahoor Ahmad, and then Treasury Officer, Zahoor Ahmad Shah, for a period between 2008 to 2011.

"The funds were meant for salary of employees and for implementation of different schemes, but it came to light that the public servants have managed to get fake and fictitious bills processed and shown disbursed on account of salary, GPF and arrears in the name of staff members posted in the Block.
"The amount has been credited in the official account of the BMO initially and subsequently misappropriated and embezzled by transferring and crediting the same in the personal accounts of Cashier and Pharmacist through cheques," the spokesman said.
A huge amount of hospital generation fund received on account of OPD Tickets, fee for conducting tests and X-Rays received from Sub-District Hospital Beerwah and other health centres of the block was also misappropriated during the period, he said.

The verification revealed that the funds received in 2009 by the hospital on account of salaries of consolidated daily wagers was also pilfered by the BMO and his staff by manipulating the records, thereby causing heavy loss to the state exchequer, he added.