Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

MoI Prepares to Finalize Food Contract Graft Case

MoI Prepares  to Finalize Food  Contract Graft Case

KABUL - The Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) is preparing to finalize the case involving at least 27 individuals, among them Haji Rasa, a food contractor, who is accused of embezzling $7.5 million.
According to the ministry, the case will be sent to the Attorney General's Office in the near future.
The contractor was arrested on May 29 on charges of "stealing AFs600 million ($7.5 million)" from meat supply in one year by over-billing the security agency.
The total amount of contract between the Interior Ministry and the contractor company is estimated AFs1.2 billion (around $15 million).
Haji Rasa, three of his colleagues and 23 officials from the Interior Ministry are making main suspects of the multimillion dollars embezzlement case.
The company’s name is Shuja Abdara and Hamid.
“We applied for permission from the legal and judicial institutions to keep them for a longer period under the monitoring. The case will be finalized as soon as possible and will be referred to the office of the attorney general,” said MoI spokesman Nusrat Rahimi.
A legal expert said the Interior Ministry has violated the law by delaying the case.
“The attorney general is obliged to ask if something takes a longer period. It means it should ask the police,” said legal expert Abdul Subhan Misbah. 
But Rasa’s defense lawyer insisted that his client is innocent.
“So far, we have not received any logic reason against our client. We hope that the interior ministry releases our client as soon as possible and instead takes legal action against those involved in the case,” said Rohullah Sakhizad.
Based on leaked documents, the company was supplying 5,000 kilograms of meat to the national police in a province, but they were receiving 10,000 kilograms of meat in bills by police commanders. In some cases, when police commanders were not prepared to do so, the company was using a fake stamp to do its job.
In single embezzlement registered in Nangarhar, there are 57,413 kilograms of meat on the bill, but the delivery has been reported 92,648 kilograms.
The Interior Ministry has requested the Attorney General’s Office to slap travel ban on at least eight of the suspects, including Haris Siraj, the acting head of the Interior Ministry’s logistics department; Nasir Zaid, head of the finance department; Mirwais Janbaz, acting head of logistics department and five other senior and lower officials.
The documents show that the majority of the amount was embezzled in Kabul, Parwan, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Punjsher, Baghlan, Nuristan and Laghman provinces. (Tolo news)