‘Islamic investment’: Swindlers deprive villagers of cash

Villagers blindly invested in ‘Halal profit’ scheme.

ATTOCK:

Two brothers have allegedly swindled lacs from residents of Jalwal village in Attock in the name of ‘Musharka’ — a joint investment popular among Muslims.

Residents said the alleged swindlers, identified as Abdul Khaliq and Abdul Malik, lured them into making an investment to ‘purify’ their money.

The accused, after stashing money from gullible residents, have gone into hiding. The complainants said they have fled to Rawalpindi to escape arrest.

“Before duping us into investing in a business being run by the name of Elixir Group, the accused delivered sermons at religious gatherings in the villages and we blindly believed them,” said an affected person.

“Their religious appearance was the main reason people reposed confidence in them,” said another affected person, adding that they told villagers that their business was purely Islamic and offered a ‘halal’ profit.

The affected people said they invested huge sums in return for a single stamp paper which the accused provided as a receipt of sorts.

They said initially the accused paid them the profit  for two months to gain people’s confidence before disappearing.

The affected people have demanded that the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau help them recover their hard-earned money.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2013.