Army major, SP named in fraud case
NAB’s Punjab unit detected the scam which robbed 215 people of their hard-earned cash.
LAHORE:
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s Punjab unit has detected an investment fraud which involves a serving army major and a Superintendent of Police (SP) and involves Rs2.28 billion in swindled money, sources said.
Through methods truly ingenuous, some 215 persons were coaxed into putting their hard-earned cash into the investment scheme concocted with a promise of handsome returns. The money performed a quick vanishing act, though.
The NAB Punjab has opened investigation into the scam after receiving complaints from the victims. Initially 50 people emerged to have lost their earnings but subsequently 28 more came forward during the inquiry process. That number has now swelled to 215. They have been cheated out of a staggering Rs2.28 billion cumulatively.
The NAB has so far arrested four accused including the principal accused Rana Qaiser Nazir who is the chief executive of Canal Motors, his two brothers-in-law Mohsin Abbasi and Ahsan Abbasi and an agent (mediator) Hafiz Usman. Others wanted in the case include SP Rana Mansoorul Haq, earlier posted in Lahore and now serving in district Faisalabad, his (SP’s) brother, Rana Qaiser’s father, brother and wife.
A serving army Major – Rana Hameed – is also named in the scam but since NAB has no jurisdiction to call an army officer for questioning, he has not been summoned. However, the bureau has sent a charge-sheet against the officer to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani through the General Heaquarters, the sources said.
According to initial probe, the accused had withdrawn major sums from the bank accounts before the NAB inquiry into the matter was instituted while Rana Qaiser’s wife Saima had escaped to the US before the investigation started. The NAB is believed to have contacted Interpol for her arrest.
Anwer Khan, the father of the main accused, has submitted an application before the Director General NAB Punjab in which he offered to pay back Rs150 million but according to NAB the liability of the accused totals Rs450 million.
Anwer Khan took the plea that he had disbursed Rs300 million out of the total Rs450 million among the victims, but so far he has not provided any documentary proof to the investigators to corroborate his claim.
Rana Irfanul Haq, the brother of the SP, also agreed to return the vehicles purchased from the cheated money and also cleared the liability, the sources said.
The scam was masterminded by his influential friends and associates SP Rana Mansoorul Haq and Major Rana Hameed, the sources asserted.
Published in The Express Tribune December 14th, 2010.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s Punjab unit has detected an investment fraud which involves a serving army major and a Superintendent of Police (SP) and involves Rs2.28 billion in swindled money, sources said.
Through methods truly ingenuous, some 215 persons were coaxed into putting their hard-earned cash into the investment scheme concocted with a promise of handsome returns. The money performed a quick vanishing act, though.
The NAB Punjab has opened investigation into the scam after receiving complaints from the victims. Initially 50 people emerged to have lost their earnings but subsequently 28 more came forward during the inquiry process. That number has now swelled to 215. They have been cheated out of a staggering Rs2.28 billion cumulatively.
The NAB has so far arrested four accused including the principal accused Rana Qaiser Nazir who is the chief executive of Canal Motors, his two brothers-in-law Mohsin Abbasi and Ahsan Abbasi and an agent (mediator) Hafiz Usman. Others wanted in the case include SP Rana Mansoorul Haq, earlier posted in Lahore and now serving in district Faisalabad, his (SP’s) brother, Rana Qaiser’s father, brother and wife.
A serving army Major – Rana Hameed – is also named in the scam but since NAB has no jurisdiction to call an army officer for questioning, he has not been summoned. However, the bureau has sent a charge-sheet against the officer to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani through the General Heaquarters, the sources said.
According to initial probe, the accused had withdrawn major sums from the bank accounts before the NAB inquiry into the matter was instituted while Rana Qaiser’s wife Saima had escaped to the US before the investigation started. The NAB is believed to have contacted Interpol for her arrest.
Anwer Khan, the father of the main accused, has submitted an application before the Director General NAB Punjab in which he offered to pay back Rs150 million but according to NAB the liability of the accused totals Rs450 million.
Anwer Khan took the plea that he had disbursed Rs300 million out of the total Rs450 million among the victims, but so far he has not provided any documentary proof to the investigators to corroborate his claim.
Rana Irfanul Haq, the brother of the SP, also agreed to return the vehicles purchased from the cheated money and also cleared the liability, the sources said.
The scam was masterminded by his influential friends and associates SP Rana Mansoorul Haq and Major Rana Hameed, the sources asserted.
Published in The Express Tribune December 14th, 2010.