Scam: Bank official arrested for Rs6 million ‘loan’

A second official has also been accused but has not been arrested so far.

LAHORE:

The Punjab chapter of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested an Askari Bank official allegedly involved in sanctioning loans of Rs6 million against false property documents.

A second bank official has also been accused has but not arrested so far. Agriculture Credit officer, Muhammad Farooq, will be presented before a judicial magistrate today (Tuesday) for physical remand.

According to bank officials and the FIA’s investigation, the officer processed and approved two loans of Rs3 million each at the Askari Bank’s GT Road Branch in Gujranwala.

The beneficiaries, Alamgir and Khalid Hussain, arrested last month by the FIA, had told investigators that they had been ‘conned’ by Agriculture Credit officers Usman Safdar and Farooq (both employed at the same branch). Two cases have been registered against the two bank officers and four tenant farmers, Alamgir, Hussain, Qamar and Asmatullah.

The farmers have denied receiving any monies.

They said Safdar had offered them two Rs0.8 million loans for tractors and told them to provide their CNICs for the paper work.

Qamar said he had collected identity cards and provided them to Safdar.

The accused said the bank officials had prepared fake property documents and tricked them into signing bank documents as well as stamp paper. They said Safdar had never provided them cheque books for the two accounts.

When the farmers were sent payment notices of the loans, they approached Askari Bank management. The management asked the FIA to investigate after discovering a loss of Rs6 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2012.