PAC unearths Rs1.2b bank loan scandal

Audit finds ZTBL staff forged loan documents

ISLAMABAD:

An audit report presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has revealed that Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) employees caused a loss of Rs1.2 billion to the national treasury through a fraud involving forged documents.

Audit officials on Tuesday told a meeting of the PAC—held under the chairmanship of Junaid Akbar on Tuesday—that in several cases, loans sanctioned for farmers never reached them as ZTBL employees misappropriated these loans.

Appearing before the committee, ZTBL president stated that the bank dismissed 400 employees found involved in altering loan documents. "We have placed personal contact numbers and awareness boards in every branch. We have recovered Rs270 million so far, and recovery efforts are ongoing," he said.

The committee asked the president to address the issue in coordination with the audit department.

It was also revealed that the ZTBL had failed to recover Rs9 billion in loans with 1,601 borrowers not returning even a single rupee.

Audit officials said only 16% of recoverable amounts were collected from borrowers in Quetta, Karachi, and Lahore. They also noted a growing number of loan defaulters across the country.

MNA Khawaja Sheraz asked why is the ZTBL constantly sinking when the banking sector is profitable.

The ZTBL is a state-owned agricultural development bank that provides agricultural credit and banking services to farmers across the country. It remains the largest public sector agriculture development financial institution in the country.

The PAC also took suo motu notice on Jamshed Dasti's request regarding a loss of 1.1 million litres of petrol at the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) due to employee negligence.

The PSO managing director (MD) told the committee that the estimated value of the lost petrol is Rs180 million. "We recovered Rs40 million from the responsible employees after dismissing them," he said.