National Accountability Bureau has initiated inquiry into two scams pertaining to defrauding Standard Charted Bank and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) through fake cheques worth Rs 9.996 million and 33 fake export bills amounting to Rs 195.216 million against bogus LCs respectively.
Well-placed sources in NAB told Business Recorder that a meeting of the Executive Board was held on Wednesday chaired by Nawid Ahsan, Chairman NAB, to review the corruption cases. The Executive Board reviewed 9 cases presented by Prosecution Division and Financial Crimes Investigation Wing of NAB.
The Board directed the authorities concerned to start investigation against Malik Waseem Hussain Riasat on the complaint of Salman Arif, Branch Head, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), Islamabad. In his complaint he had alleged that a group headed by Malik Waseem Hussain Riasat was defrauding financial institutions including SCB.
The group had deceitfully encashed fake/forged/counterfeit cheques worth Rs 9.996 million from different branches of SCB in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The accused is presently in judicial custody. The second inquiry was approved against Muhammad Ikram, Chief Executive Officer and Director of M/s S B Hosiery Factory Pvt Ltd.
National Bank of Pakistan lodged a complaint with the NAB about the forgery committed by CEO/Directors of M/s S B Hosiery who encashed an amount of Rs 195.216 million Against fake & bogus Letters of Credit (LCs) from NBP Civil Lines Branch, Faisalabad. The Executive Board also approved settlement between NBP and Raza Habib CEO/Director of M/s Jannat Apparel Pvt Ltd for an amount of Rs 135.436 million with market-based mark-up given by the bank.
The CEO/Director of M/s Jannat Apparel Pvt Ltd had encashed 16 fake export bills amounting to Rs 135.436 million against 6 bogus LCs from NBP Civil Lines Branch, Faisalabad. In another case the Board closed an inquiry against Muhammad Bux Panhawar, Joint Director ZTBL, Hyderabad due to lack of prosecutable evidence.