Millions
donated by Pakistanis Overseas Untraceable
By
Shahwar Faryal
ISLAMABAD: Overseas Pakistanis having a soft corner for their
country, Beware! All the money you donated for ‘national
causes’ under political and military governments, obviously
hundreds of millions of dollars, may have ended up in some private
account. Ask some questions before you make the next donation.
Officials
in Pakistan have unearthed what could be the biggest continuing
scandal involving the hard-earned dollars of Pakistanis living
abroad. Four Pakistani banks operating abroad have conceded that
they have no records of massive amounts collected from Pakistanis
and where these amounts were transferred.
But
this disclosure does not trigger alarm bells among the donor Pakistanis
alone. All security agencies and international watch dogs will
like to know whether these millions were used for any other purpose
that they were intended to. In the midst of the free flow of dollars
before the 9/11 attacks, any one and everyone could have used
these funds, including the infamous Al-Qaeda or other secret agencies
of Pakistan, to achieve any illegal or terrorist objective.
The
three great causes for which Pakistanis opened their hearts, and
their check books, were the Kashmir Fund started by Benazir Bhutto,
Self Reliance Fund launched by Nawaz Sharif and Drought Relief
Fund initiated by present military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.
When
these fund raising schemes were launched, patriotism of Pakistanis
abroad was challenged and passionate appeals were made. In fact
Pakistanis rushed to contribute in hordes. Claims that millions
had been collected by these governments were made at that time.
Official media was used to the hilt to generate massive donations.
The highest accounting officer of Pakistan, the Auditor General,
has now reported to the President of Pakistan that there is no
trace or record of these funds with either the Government, the
Foreign Missions or the banks which transferred these funds. Click
for Report Page1 | Page2
No
body knows what was the total collection for the Kashmir Fund
of Benazir Bhutto, ‘Qarz Utaro Mulk Swanro’ Scheme
of Nawaz Sharif or the Drought Fund of Pervez Musharraf. No bank
is prepared to provide any detail.
Caught
in a trap and bracketed with the two leading politicians he calls
corrupt, General Musharraf has done nothing but to brush the scandal
under the carpet. He has sent the Auditor General’s report
to the non-existent Public Accounts Committee of the National
Assembly. The new PAC is yet to be constituted by the Jamali Government.
SA
Tribune has learnt that the concerned banks are claiming that
they had transferred the amounts through their own channels to
Pakistan. But, when the Audit demanded documentary evidence to
support their claim they could not produce any, creating more
doubts about the collection and use of these funds.
The
Audit is now demanding an inquiry into the entire issue to determine
some basic facts in the interest of public information. Firstly,
it wants to know the total amount collected by these banks in
the name of these three funds.
Secondly, it wants to know whether the money was ever transferred
by these banks to Pakistan. Since it is not in the knowledge of
the concerned Pakistani missions, what method was adopted for
these transfers. Audit is asking for documents to establish the
movement of these millions.
Audit officials said that the situation could be alarming. The
Banks which have declined to provide any records saying they had
none are National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), United Bank Limited
(UBL), Habib Bank Limited (HBL)and Allied Bank Limited (ABL).
Donations collected by the Pakistani Missions, other organizations
and even some individuals, too are to be accounted for and whether
the money was used for the genuine cause. Many other banks could
be involved and there is no clue with anyone who collected what
and where did the money go.
Banks
are obviously reluctant to get into these murky waters on their
own. When Audit officials asked for details, the initial reaction
was to shrug off the inquiry by saying they never handled the
amounts.
According
to the Audit report submitted to General Musharraf, “the
banks either did not give any reply or provided information which
was unbelievable.”
The
Report quoted one instance of the banks in Scotland which it said
had reported “Nil Collection” in Nawaz Sharif’s
Self Reliance Fund. “The Pakistani community told the Audit
Team during informal meetings that the Community did donate generally
(generously).”
Likewise
the Report pointed out that the Habib Bank Ltd Glasgow vaguely
stated that all the collected funds had been remitted to London
without providing any details. Pakistan International Bank, UK
informed that only a sum of 390 UK pounds was pending on account
of Musharraf’s Drought Fund.
The
Pakistani missions in Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow told
the Audit that the banks had collected the funds directly and
remitted the same to their main branches in Pakistan. But the
banks do not admit any such thing.
The
situation of the donations made by Pakistanis living in the United
States is still not clear but since the banks are not providing
any details of collections from anywhere, it is to be assumed
that the donations by Pakistani-Americans are also not accounted
for.
The
issues involved in these missing funds range from the least important
(lack of accounting and transparency) to those concerning the
global community (use of these funds for terrorism). The lack
of interest in the Musharraf government speaks of a hidden fear
that if this issue was probed deeply it may turn out to be a much
bigger embarrassment than any one can imagine.
For
instance the Audit report also pointed out that in 1997 “a
receipt book bearing serial No 13 containing 100 receipts was
issued to one Mr. Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan Director Haj, in Madina,
Saudi Arabia for collection of Self Reliance Fund on behalf of
the Nawaz Sharif government. Click to View
Report
“The
officer neither deposited the collected amount nor did he return
the used/unused receipts. Thus, the amount collected, if any,
was available with him, unaccounted, for the last four or five
years.”
Who
is this guy and what did he do with the amounts so collected is
not known but at least one 100 donations he received in Saudi
Arabia are untraceable.
