WASHINGTON: From the looks of it, they were an educated, successful Pakistani couple living in a $2 million house. But now they are fugitives.
Former residents of San Jose in California, Jawad Hasnain and Saman Hasnain, who won the Mrs Pakistan World beauty pageant in 2008, stands accused of conspiring to commit grand theft in their old hometown. They have allegedly absconded to Pakistan. The couple had been living in the area for the past ten years.
Parents of two boys, Jawad and Saman hailed from Lahore. He was a graduate of Purdue College while she is reportedly an alum of Kinnaird College, Lahore.
Saman, from her pictures, appeared to be a good-looking woman and is described on the Mrs Pakistan website as having "almond shaped eyes, flawless skin and full beautiful lips."
The prosecutors said that the couple, using her good looks, ran a loan modification scheme where they offered to help people have their loans modified in order to get low interest rates. Advertising through word-of-mouth and flyers in Hispanic stores, prosecutors stated that the couple took money from their victims in amounts ranging from $5000-$27000. “But it was all a scam and the couple stole the money and fled,” the prosecutors added.
"It’s not that she [Saman] was just attractive. She carried herself well; she wore nice clothes," said Victor Chen, the Deputy District Attorney for Santa Clara County, in a telephonic interview with The Express Tribune.
“They had a home worth $2 million, they invited potential clients there,” Chen said, adding that people were impressed by their luxurious lifestyle. Chen also said that one of the victims revealed that Saman was "very, very good" at convincing people. "They had a cloak of credibility," said Chen.
Chen, who said he is not at liberty to discuss what efforts they are making to extradite the couple from Pakistan, added that Saman and Jawad had fooled many people including “Pakistanis, Indians and Persians."
The couple has been charged on multiple counts with over a dozen victims on the list. But Chen said that there are probably 70 to 100 people who fell prey to their scheme and the estimated amount of money they have stolen could be as high as $400,000-$500,000.
Chen added that Jawad was also arrested in March this year on a separate charge of embezzling $1.2 million from real estate developers but had posted bail. Authorities had also issued an arrest warrant for Saman.
On March 14, a day before Jawad's court appearance, Chen received an email from him saying that he had to "leave the country" and would not be able to make it to court. Chen filed a motion and the court issued warrants for them on March 16 but by then, the couple and their two sons had left the country.
The couple, Chen said, are believed to be living in Pakistan at the moment.
As per the Mrs Pakistan World website, Saman said that she would like to change the world's perception of Pakistani women. "I hope to act as a role model, and encourage, educate and motivate Pakistani women to help achieve a strong and progressive Pakistan," the website stated.
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@zalim singh: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/10/world/fg-india-scandal10
Normal Indians...?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/hedge-fund-billionaire-gets-11-year-sentence-in-fraud-case/2011/10/13/gIQAa0PZhL_story.html
Normal Sri Lankans....?
Fraud, cheating, embezzlement and the like are not crimes restricted to any one country or ethnicity (or to just us brownies). Please peddle your anti-Pakistan sentiments elsewhere, as I see you've made it a career to do so on ET. I'm flattered you like us so much, but spread the merriment and love elsewhere for a while. Cheers.
Bunty aur Bubly
As quoted : Saman said that she would like to change the world’s perception of Pakistani women.' Thanks for making the effort lady!
@Anonymous: Absolutly agreed! and they would have been called things like "radicalized" and "fundamentalists" etc. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty and the due process of law should take its place. The media and specially ET need some mirch masala to put on their pages daily!!!
@Asad:
FYI... Raj Rajaratnam is a Sri Lankan American not Indian American.. Please do some research before u post..
and we wonder why the little green booklet is sooo unwelcome...... O Mrs Pakistan World! Deception is thy name!?
good and bade people are exist every where. it can not be specified with a country. those who are bad by nature they will be bad every where no matter from where they are. no society no religion and no custom in the world encourage these people. it is wrong rather a blame to say that pakistani are corrupt. i a pakistane and a muslim condemn this ugly woman. no pakistani will say that she don will. so one cann't blame pakistani nation owing to this or any other individual or group.
@Mr. Righty rightist: There are criminals in each and every community. Why does ET allow this site for obsessed Indian writers to spew anti Pakistani nonsense?
Didn't we already have every terrorist's link to our great country. This "beautiful" lady has done the rest of the damage.
My God, who says she's good looking????
The only thing i'm wondering is how she became Mrs. Pakistan? We have much, much better looking women over here and she certainly is not one of them without all that makeup on.
Everyone is entitled to a fair trial and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So let's wait for the trial and the verdict and hold your smart Alec comments till then. And what's wrong with Tribune, ultra open to allow all the Indian jokers to continue Pakistan bashing on Pakistani website. Has anyone ever seen a critique written by ordinary pakistani readers on Indian paper? Rarely. They know where to draw the line. It's our pseudo liberated media trying to prove a point. Pakistani media is tripping over itself to sit in Indian lap. Shame to say the least.
@Pollack: "@commentator: maybe she was very very good at convincing people. But what sort of people? Maybe dumb people who don’t need much convincing anyway."
Due to the housing crisis in US, there are many legitimate loan modification programs run by top US banks like Bank Of America, Chase, Citi etc. Many people do not know how to do the paperwork for these, so there could be legitimate brokers who provide service to help get the modification. You don't have to be stupid to fall for this.
Mortgage fraud is very common in the West. Majority of fraudsters are from India, Pakistan, Ukraine and Middle East.
@Vishnu D Dutta: Yes!Enstein,that's what they are saying,that is really stoop to low,Even for American,Just like Kaalchara I say SHAME, SHAME,SHAME 3 times to show my outrage,I'm not going to sleep to night,this is gross injustice more than Saeed of LTE chief,real low!Allah is there,Do not forget,He protect the weak and helpless.
@Nahin Karo Yaar: I can not believe this?Now some ones good looks is held against her?Do you go after ASH(Bachan Bahu) or Julia Robert?There has to be some fairness and balance in reporting?I really give up!
@Ram Dhan: So what?Is it a Federal Crime to be Piano Player?If so half the Jew children should be in Jail,they learn Piano like a We play Cricket,this is insanity,I say
@Senman: Why should she go to Abbotabad?She is not terrorist,when did embezzalment became a terror act?,sure those who lose money have sleepless night but it can not be called terror act,so pleas be reasonableThat is the problem with people suffer from Islamapobia,they will stoop to any level to de fame Muslims and call everything Terror and in the mean time nothing about real terrorist of Samjotha train killing?Is this fair,I ask?
@MIT: YAH! They will get justice like that poor MIT micro Biologis?t,Do not sell me that Brooklyn Bridge,I wasn't born yesterday,they rather serve their time in Indian/Pakistan prison where even Kasab gets justice not to speak about Hyderabadi Biryani,can you match that?,Do not insult my intelligence,pl.
@SK - Salman: You are,there is no improvement,there was no mention of CIA,RAW and not even a hint of Mosad and Jews,this is not acceptable,there are bad time in Usa,they lost even there 2 million dollar home,any shedding of tears for pious Honest couple,they should never bring religion,do Jews and Hindus do not commit fraud,I sak Americans why Us,always,we got to get on street and do something,please something,it is out rageous to say the least.
@She is a typical elite Secular Liberal Pakistani: You damn Right,these liberals are too much.I agree
@bob: In Pakistan,are you serious?
@Mohammad Ali Siddiqui: No kidding,genious,you figured it out what we all dumb bells missed,good job,you have to give to her,she got one heck of looks,even a smart fire cracker would be toast by her looks,One thing I compliment Pakistani Woman they are far better looking than average Indian Chicks,that is real honest compliment.
If true then I guess it strengthens the theory that if not engaging in some act of terror, our fellow countrymen eventually fill the gap by doing something else overseas putting some negative tag on Pakistan.And I would call the couple secular and moderate fugitives/criminals since they fooled everyone irrespective of victim's race,nationality or faith.:D Even in "brother nations" of Middle East, Pakistanis are looked upon with suspicion since they have been getting arrested on charges of smuggling,robbery and murder etc..... for past many years. I used to live in Oman and a number of times Pakistanis used to form majority in jails and they were caught doing things such as selling drugs. Plus, there were cases where Pakistani expatriates would become Wanted since they pulled a huge scam or robbery and left for some other country such as USA and Canada. I read this another blog on this very website where this gentleman was whining how due to Green Passport,his vacations in Thailand went sour.Earlier, I read somewhere that this famous TV icon from Pakistan indeed got indulged in some act of stealing money or cheating in Thailand due to which Thai government became strict with Pakistani production houses,channels etc.....Forget about extremists and politicians back home,I wonder what we the people of Pakistan should do in order to improve our nation's image. Now I live in a suburb of Toronto with my parents and siblings but even here I have see a number of Pakistanis and other South Asians fooling government to get insurance etc...
@IndianDude: There you go,on top of all news,don't miss anything
I think that they ran into hard times and did commit these crimes. They should be punished for what they did. My question is: Is this the most important thing for us to worry about?
I love these Miss Pakistan and Miss Phillipine et al contests in distant countries. Even a donkey can be a beauty queen.
look out meera, you now have competition;
What do you mean by she is "Very very good at convincing" and she "used her good looks"?
you didnt mean that she honey trapped her victims did you? well that gives it a whole new dimension.
@all the indian posters please tell us who was Raj Rajaratnam one of the biggest scammers on the wall street.
@MrsShaanD: She is accomplished Piano Player? Did not know that. Everyone please take note. Then there is no way she is guilty of all the crimes she has been accused of.
@MrsShaanD: mrs shaan if the couple is innocent why didnt they stay in US to face charges and clear their name, i am sure they did "very well" hope they had the foresight to transfer all funds to pakistan before fleeing so that they can live happily ever after
PAKS just hate it when they get caught..........they really do believe they are the pure living in the land of the pure.
She is a typical rich "Liberal" Pakistani who want to "secularize" Pakistan. They impress the White Americans at how pro-western they are. They run NGOs for changing Pakistan in their pro-western image. They cry slogans like "enlightened moderation". Yet the first chance they get to loot money, they Liberally and Progressively Loot the poor.
This secular Liberal elite minority in Pakistan is full of drama queens.
And then we ask why we Pakistanis are 'BADNAAM'!!!
This is an attack and lie against Saman Hasnain, She and her husband did very well in Real Estate business and when Real Estate market went down they could not keep their development projects go on. Loan re-modification never guarantees any one that bank will spare their house it is just a try..... She has done lots of charity work, she is an accomplished piano player, a movie maker who has dedicated her life to improve the lives of Asian women including Pakistani women ------ why are you people judging her based on bias media?? Media will do anything to put any one from Pakistan down.....
There is a difference between reporting a news item and finding the truth which needs a full scale investigations.
According to the news published: "The prosecutors said that the couple, using her good looks, ran a loan modification scheme where they offered to help people have their loans modified in order to get low interest rates. Advertising through word-of-mouth and flyers in Hispanic stores, prosecutors stated that the couple took money from their victims in amounts ranging from $5000-$27000. “But it was all a scam and the couple stole the money and fled,” the prosecutors added."
The question arises: what makes the couple to go and offer their services to their victims when they seems to be financially sound and were living in a $ 2 million house?
A lot of Pakistanis are still interested to go live and work in the US, where in this particular case, the couple seems to be US nationals and came to Pakistan after cheating the people in US, as if they would have made up their minds not to return back to US any more.
Addendumto my previous comment: "In March 2010 she received an award at the pride of performance ceremony By "Safeer-E-Pakistan" GEO TV"
@Zalim Singh "normal pakistanis." Sir with due apology any normal person and for that matter any normal Pakistani in particular cannot afford to entertain such ideas only the the criminals do and these criminal thugs are not confined to a particular faith and country.
Making Pakistan proud...she is a beauty queen indeed...stealer of hearts and money. Now I unrdestand why she became Mrs Pakistan
Pakistanis staying in character no matter where they go they take their corrupt ways with them.
if only Pakistanis, Indians and Persians.” are involved then not much chance is there that americans would come to pakistan. however if a single american is involved, they will hunt her down to antartica
@Mr. Righty rightist: Mr India when did you start supporting Pakistan...
Yah Allah ! Even the 'beauty Queen' is a thief.
Mrs Pakistan World says that her all time favorite movie is titanic. No wonder she is going to sink like her favorite titanic.
@commentator: maybe she was very very good at convincing people. But what sort of people? Maybe dumb people who don't need much convincing anyway.
normal pakistanis.
It is a conspiracy against liberals in Pakistan
i agree india and israel are behind it.......................hehehe
So she was "very, very good" at convincing people? what does that mean? that the people they were fooling were not that dumb?
Recommend if you are not surprised.
It's a conspiracy to malign Pakistan.