In a major embarrassment for Pakistan, a highly ranked official in country’s ministry of finance was caught on camera allegedly stealing a wallet that was left by a member of Kuwaiti delegation visiting the country. The theft was committed by a grade-20 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Services Group, The Dawn reported. The act was recorded in a closed-circuit TV camera (CCTV) installed in the hall at the Economic Affairs Division where the members of the Kuwaiti delegation were gathered earlier. Two separate video clips of the incident leaked to media, causing major embarrassment to the country.

The issue came to light when the Kuwaiti delegation member lodged a complaint with the authority that his wallet with handsome money had gone missing. The Pakistani officials soon conducted a search in all the rooms and offices in the ministry. The officials even quizzed the lower grade employees and searched them physically but nothing was found.

The authorities later examined a CCTV camera installed at the hall and it was revealed that the stealing was committed by the senior officer. The officer in question initially denied committing the act, but produced the wallet later after the footage was shown to him.





When the Kuwaiti official was informed about the recovery of his wallet, the members of the delegation asked the authorities to provide the identification of the culprit. The Pakistani officials initially showed reluctance and assured the guests that legal action would be taken against the person.

Asked for a comment on the incident, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that most of the present bureaucrats had got “moral training” during the previous governments, the report said.