Dozen held in loan scam

Source say forged docs were used to embezzle Rs471m from accounts

HARIPUR:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a bank fraud case involving agriculture loans and arrested 12 people including bank employees and patwaris. A total of Rs471 million was embezzled from 171 accounts.

The complaint (FIR No 2024/109) was lodged on the application of Muhammad Asghar Hayat, the regional recovery manager of a private bank.

According to the FIR, fake documents were used to grant agricultural loans. Land prices for obtaining loans were contradicted with the market and government rates and most of the loans were issued on the basis of fake land documents.

It was also found that the Agri Team Leader, Faisal Masood along with the other bank staff and others were involved in the scandal. Complainant Asghar Hayat appeared during the inquiry proceedings and his statement was recorded.

During the inquiry, the FIA seized the certified copies of original loan files along with land records through physical memos and to obtain the original files from CAD wrote a letter to the Haripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) requesting verification of the land records contained in these files.

The DC sent back the records after getting verification from the concerned patwaris. The records revealed that either the land records were tampered with or the value of the land was recorded higher than the official rate and in some cases, the land did not exist at all.

The patwaris were then summoned through call-up notices and their statements were recorded. They not only explained the tampering but also presented the original record. This exercise established that the land records were indeed tampered with. Some documents were found to have forged seals and signatures, which did not belong to the patwaris concerned.

During the inquiry, the statements of a few customers came out in which they openly revealed that the team leader, Faisal Masood, personally or through his colleagues, demanded Rs100,000 bribe [each] against the issuance of multiple loans. Statements of all bank officers and inquiry officers were recorded. During the inquiry, the internal bank inquiry report along with product implementation and SOPs related to agricultural credit were obtained on the memo.

Bank records also revealed that Faisal Masood's frontmen made transactions worth millions of rupees in his respective accounts as bribes. Faisal managed to create forged documents through bribery and ensured that the loan amount was transferred to his frontmen.