FIA declares Asad Mahmood fugitive as NAB widens inquiry

The Federal Investigation Agency has classified Maulana Asad Mahmood, a former federal minister for communications, as a willful defaulter and a fugitive from its questioning in an inquiry into alleged irregularities in Pakistan Post recruitment, according to documents cited by Minute Mirror. Separately, the National Accountability Bureau has given the chairman of the National Highway Authority 48 hours to hand over procurement records from Asad Mahmood's tenure, The Nation reported.

The FIA inquiry, numbered 197/2026, concerns 4,252 permanent appointments made while he served as minister for communications and postal services between April 2022 and August 2023, Minute Mirror reported.

The agency's Anti-Corruption Circle in Islamabad found that 2,646 of those appointments were made against abolished posts, 314 without budget allocations or clearance from the Establishment and Finance divisions, and that the remaining 1,292 violated recruitment rules. The inquiry record also alleges that testing procedures were bypassed, age limits relaxed and candidate lists approved without verification. It names a ministry contractor, Amanullah son of Muhammad Younus.

Asad Mahmood was summoned on October 30 to appear in Islamabad on November 2 with documents on recruitment approvals, testing exemptions, age relaxations and dealings with the contractor. An inquiry note cited by Minute Mirror records that the summons was served, that he did not appear, and that investigators treated the absence as deliberate.

The agency recommended converting the inquiry into a first information report under Pakistan Penal Code provisions on criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and abetment, along with anti-corruption law, and proposed placing his name on the Provisional National Identification List. The record was forwarded to NAB, which summoned him for November 10, Minute Mirror reported.

The Nation reported that NAB's call-up notice, issued on Monday, summons him before a Combined Investigation Team over alleged illegal appointments, recruitment against abolished posts, violations of government instructions and appointments said to rest on forged documents.

Correspondence attached to the NHA side of the inquiry alleges irregularities, political favouritism and kickbacks in highway projects, and names contractors Amanullah Khan, Umer Jan and Manzoor Afridi in connection with allocations of about Rs19.28 billion for the N-55 and Indus Bypass, the N-50 CPEC corridor and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa link highways. The authority has been asked for original bidding evaluation reports, Executive Board meeting minutes and payment records for 2022-2023.

The same correspondence alleges that a residential property in G-6/4 and a fleet of V8 vehicles were provided in exchange for contracts and postal appointments. It identifies House No. 7 on Street 83, described as the residence of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, as a benami asset. Minute Mirror reported that a second house on the street, a four-kanal property under construction registered in the name of Javed Iqbal, a resident of Karak, is allegedly linked to Asad Mahmood and valued at about Rs2 billion, with the Capital Development Authority issuing notices over building regulation violations. The CDA chairman has been asked to freeze the estate record of the G-6/4 property, and excise and taxation authorities in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to verify the vehicles' registration and ownership.

Minute Mirror said the ownership claims, the valuation and the benami allegations had not been verified through official land records or the Federal Board of Revenue. It said FIA and JUI-F representatives did not respond before publication, no FIR number had been made public and NAB had not commented.

The Nation reported that accountability authorities had widened the probe to spending on emergency maintenance, suspected embezzlement in revenue collection and projects it describes as politically motivated, and linked the move to Maulana Fazlur Rehman's recent criticism of the government.