Rickshaw driver’s accounts used for Rs8.5b transactions in Karachi

KARACHI: In one of the biggest benami (anonymous) transactions in the country’s history, bank accounts of a rickshaw driver in Karachi were used to carry out transactions amounting to a whopping Rs8.5 billion

According to sources at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), bank accounts of Zor Talab – a rickshaw driver from Buner – were used by Salar Enterprises and Salar Mining for transactions with at least five banks, Express News reported on Wednesday.

The FBR probe further revealed that a man identified as Ammar Khan used Zor Talab’s accounts for the mentioned companies. Rickshaw driver’s details were used to open accounts in various private banks of Karachi and Buner.



Transactions amounting to Rs4.6 billion were carried out from one and Rs3.6 billion from another bank account.

The whole scam came to fore after the FBR sent a notice to Zor Talab, seeking reply regarding evading taxes and money-laundering charges. The rickshaw driver, who is currently visiting his native town in Buner, said he will contact the authorities after returning to Karachi.

A notice will also be sent to Ammar Khan soon, said the sources in FBR.

This is the latest in a string of fake accounts to have emerged in the recent past, as earlier this month four bank accounts carrying billions of rupees were unearthed in the name of a man who died four years ago in Karachi.



Similarly, a labourer, who went to open a bank account, was shocked to found more than Rs70 million in a fake account in his name in Sialkot.

It all started when on September 29, a faluda seller in Karachi had been found to be sitting on Rs2.25 billion, transferred to his account from someone whose whereabouts have remained unknown.

Abdul Qadir, a resident of Orangi Town neighbourhood had discovered the huge sum to his name. The vendor expressed a complete lack of knowledge about the amount transferred and found out about the funds when he was summoned by the FIA.