ACE probes Rs17.5m monthly fuel fraud at Suthra Punjab

Punjab's Anti-Corruption Establishment has opened an inquiry into alleged fuel and vehicle rental irregularities at the Suthra Punjab Agency in Faisalabad, with losses put at up to Rs17.5 million a month in a report published by ProPakistani on 2 November.

The agency declared 800 sanitation vehicles to the provincial government while around 550 were operating, according to the report. Fuel for the declared fleet came to about Rs15.6 million a month. Rental charges for another 200 vehicles took the suspected irregularity to nearly Rs17.5 million a month. The gap between the declared fleet and the vehicles actually in the field is about 250.

The Express Tribune also carried news of the inquiry under the headline "ACE probes scam in Suthra Punjab", without giving figures or naming officials.

ProPakistani reported that investigators are examining allegations that employees at a filling station used several fake registration plates on a single vehicle to draw fuel against different vehicle numbers, then took the vehicle to a workshop near the station on Rajbah Road, where the fuel was drained.

The inquiry is also looking at claims that tracking devices on the vehicles were deliberately damaged and that CCTV cameras at the filling station were disabled to conceal the activity, the outlet said.

ACE officials have obtained video recordings, documents and mobile phones from some employees, according to the report. Anti-corruption officials in Faisalabad are reviewing the evidence and the agency's financial records to establish the size of the loss and who is responsible.

No arrest has been reported and no employee has been publicly named. Officials said any legal action would depend on the outcome of the inquiry, which is still at the evidence-gathering stage.

Neither report carried a response from the Suthra Punjab Agency, the Punjab local government department or any employee referred to in the allegations.