FIA launches operation to trace fraud suspects

Faria, Fahad allegedly swindled Rs2.5m from insurance company on account of fake death certificate

KARACHI:

The Federal Investigation Agency's anti-human trafficking cell (AHTC) launched on Friday an operation to track down and arrest two persons accused of swindling Rs2.5 million from an insurance company on the basis of a fake death certificate.

Suspected offenders Faria Saleem and Fahad Saleem were booked by the AHTC on Tuesday.

According to the FIR, they had falsely declared their mother, Seema Saleem Kharbay, dead and produced a fake death certificate to defraud an American insurance company of Rs2.5 million on account of Kharbay's life insurance.

The FIR states that Kharbay had bought two life insurance plans from the company in 2009 and had been regularly paying the premiums until 2011, when Fahad approached the company and claimed the insurance amount on the basis of Kharbay's fake death certificate.

However, the scam was uncovered when Kharbay applied for a visa at the United States consulate, the FIR states. Following this, consulate officials sent a written complaint to the FIA.

Upon probing the matter and checking Kharbay's travel history, the FIA discovered that she had taken flights to 10 countries, including Thailand, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil, between August 2011 and July 2013, after her insurance was claimed.

As per the FIR, it was also discovered during the FIA investigation that Lyari Union Council-6 secretary Mumtaz Ali Abbasi, in collusion with Sindh Government Lyari General Hospital senior medical officer Dr Hussain Akhtar, allegedly facilitated the issuance of Kharbay's fake death certificate, which stated her cause of death to be heart failure. A receipt from Fishermen Morna cemetery was also attached to the certificate.

The suspects then opened banks accounts, one each in two branches of a private bank in Dhoraji and near Jheel Park, to transfer the money acquired from the US insurance company. The amount was then transferred to accounts in the US through money laundering, the FIR says.

Hence, charges of money laundering have been included in the FIR. The interim challan in the case will be submitted to the court in two weeks.