Postmaster booked in Rs2m scam

Accused pocketed cash deposited by people in Post Office saving accounts.

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a case of misappropriation of over Rs2 million against a village postmaster, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Sources in FIA said that accused Tanveer Hussain, a postmaster of Moeeuddin Pur Post Office in Gujrat district, has embezzled an amount of Rs2.04 million.

The postmaster is accused of stealing the funds of nine different accountholders of Pakistan Post saving accounts. The accused recorded the deposits in passbooks of the accountholders, but instead of transferring the money in the exchequer pocketed the sums, sources familiar with the investigation said.

The scandal surfaced when these accountholders checked their balances and the amount was not found in these accounts and they lodged complaints with the higher authorities of the Pakistan Post in this regard, sources further stated.

During departmental inquiry these allegations were proved correct and after suspending the postmaster Tanveer Hussain, the Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Post Gujrat Muhammad Ghafran Amjad referred the matter to the FIA for initiation of criminal proceedings against the accused as well as for the recovery of the stolen money, sources in FIA said.

After an inquiry a case has been registered against the accused with FIA Anti Corruption Circle Police Station Lahore, while the role of the other staffers of the Pakistan Post will be determined during the course of investigation, sources related to the investigation further stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2012.