Paedophile linked to global porn ring worked for World Bank, K-P govt, reveals probe   

• Soon after arrest, the World Bank removed the suspect’s name and details from its website.
• The audit report for the year 2014-15, bearing signature of Ayaz, confirmed the accused was working as a consultant in K-P govt during 2015.
• Both the K-P govt and World Bank committed negligence by failing to carry out security checks before hiring the accused on key positions.

(Karachi) A paedophile linked to global porn ring, who was arrested by Rawalpindi police, was working for the World Bank and providing consultancy services to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Government, investigations transpired on Wednesday.

The probe revealed that Sohail Ayaz was discharging his duties as finance management specialist in K-P government and was also part of World Bank’s Project titled "Pakistan: Revitalizing Health Services in K-P".

The concern arising from the recent disclosures highlight the fact that both the K-P government and World Bank committed negligence by failing to carry out security checks before hiring the accused on key positions.

While disclosing the criminal history of the suspect, security officials investigating the case said Ayaz was a former worker of the global non-profit organisation ‘Save the Children’. He was arrested in London in 2009 at the charity’s headquarters after thousands of child porn images were discovered at his home. He went to the UK on a two-year visa and at the time he was hired by the charity, he was wanted in Italy in connection with a Romanian child sex ring.

Ayaz pleaded guilty to many sexual offences and was jailed for four years by a court in UK. He was later convicted in Italy and spent six months in prison there before being deported.

Both the K-P government and World Bank overlooked the suspect’s criminal background and convictions raising question marks on their working.

The probe revealed that Sohail Ayaz was recruited by K-P government during 2014 and 2015. The audit report for the fiscal year 2014-15, bearing signature of Ayaz, confirmed the accused was in fact discharging his duties as a consultant in K-P government during the aforementioned period.

The investigations transpired that while Ayaz was serving as finance management specialist in K-P government in 2015, the health ministry was being run under the command of Shahram Tarakai and the then health secretary Mushtaq Jadoon.

A copy of a notification issued by K-P’s health department in 2012 stated that “a qualified professional accountant with adequate financial management experience would work in the department as financial management specialist,” indicating that Sohail might have been working in health department well before 2014-15, the fact that should be investigated.

After the arrest of Sohail Ayaz and his association with international porn ring, the World Bank removed the suspect’s name from its website, deleting all relevant details that it contained regarding his involvement in health services project in K-P.

On November 12, the Rawalpindi police arrested Ayaz over charges of abducting and sexually assaulting over 30 children in different cities of the country.

The suspect, who was a chartered accountant by profession, was the ring leader of an international group called ‘dark web’ whose members used to sexually abuse the children and upload their videos on social media.