Bogus stamp paper: FIA seeks records of over 100 housing societies

Almost 90% of stamp papers was found to be counterfeit.

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sought records from the management of more than 100 housing societies amid fresh disclosure about the use of counterfeit stamp paper for documenting property transfers.

The exchequer has been deprived of millions of rupees in stamp fee due to the counterfeit copies of stamp paper.

An overwhelming number of stamp papers submitted in Lahore for real estate transfers after 2008 were found to be fake.

In this regard FIA has sought the stamp paper record from the managements of more than 100 cooperative housing societies present in Lahore and its suburbs, The Express Tribune has learnt.

According to initial findings of FIA and Board of Revenue these questionable stamp papers were never issued by the Treasury Office and no amount was deposited with the State Bank, National Bank, or the Treasury Office.

Almost 40 to 90 per cent of stamp paper was found to be fake in the property transfer documents of housing societies like PIA, GCP, Air Avenue, Wapda Town, Valencia, NFC and Nashaiman-e-Iqbal.

Buyer beware

Members of cooperative housing societies have been asked to deposit the actual stamp fee with the State Bank and produce its original receipt otherwise face legal proceedings.

The notice asked the owners of one-kanal plot to deposit Rs80,000, 10-marla (Rs45,000) and five-marla (Rs22,500) as the “cost of stamp papers.”

An official of a housing society confirmed that notices had been served on the owners concerned, because it is the prime responsibility of a buyer to check whether the stamp papers he or she is depositing at the time of transfer of house or plots are original, especially when the deal involves millions of rupees.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2013.