PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday handed over assets worth more than Rs6 billion recovered in the Kohistan financial corruption case to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

A formal ceremony was held in Peshawar where NAB Chairman Lieutenant General (retd) Nazir Ahmed transferred the recovered assets to KP Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah.

According to a statement issued by the anti-graft body, assets worth over Rs6 billion were handed over to the provincial government in the first phase. The recovered items include cash, gold, valuable properties and luxury vehicles.

NAB said the recovery was made possible through a comprehensive and systematic investigation into the Kohistan corruption case, which allegedly involves embezzlement of more than Rs37 billion in public funds.

The bureau said its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team carried out forensic and financial examinations of more than 1,500 bank accounts as part of the investigation.

The NAB chairman said the complex financial fraud was uncovered through effective investigative efforts and praised the KP director general Farmanullah and the probe team for their performance.

He added that further recovery operations are still underway and more assets will be transferred to the provincial government once legal formalities are completed.

He said public resources are a national trust and assured that all possible measures would be taken to safeguard them.

Officials said the ongoing investigation is expected to continue as authorities work to trace additional assets linked to the alleged corruption network.