History of Double Shah

Islamabad: People fall for another Double Shah

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi, has unearthed another double Shah-like scam in which a large number of people were deprived of their hard-earned money in the name of ‘attractive investment’ in local and international markets. The bureau started an inquiry against a firm called UNAICO Pakistan involved in the scam and sealed its office in Saudi-Pak Tower in the federal capital. It also froze three bank accounts of the firm and put the name of its chief executive on the exit control list (ECL).

“The firm had been operating for the last four years and according to its staff it had more than 12,000 permanent members,” a senior official of NAB in Rawalpindi told Dawn on Friday.

He said NAB investigators believed that the number of the firm’s clients could be more than that disclosed by its staff.

He said total investment of the people with the company was said to be over Rs300 million.

“We have seized three bank accounts of the firm which contain Rs140 million,” the official said.

Atif Kamran, the main character of the scam and owner of the company, is on the run but his name has been put on the ECL.

The NAB team visited the office of the company and observed that there was no documentary record of the people’s investment because all the transactions were web or internet based.

According to an official press release, NAB Rawalpindi initiated the inquiry against the company after receiving a report from the State Bank of Pakistan regarding suspicious transactions in its accounts.

Initial verification of the record revealed that the company, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), was involved in the illegal business of MLM (multi-level marketing) by enticing the general public for investments.

The company was running an illegal scheme; therefore, the SECP had placed a warning in the press, asking the public to refrain from investing in UNAICO or involving in any transaction with it.

The warning had clearly notified that the company’s business was illegal and not authorised by SECP.

“NAB Rawalpindi is in the process of contacting all members/investors of the company to approach the bureau office to verify their claims and record their statements for legal action against the company.”

Lahore: Double Shah jailed for 14 years

Zeeshan Ahmed January 8, 2012 

LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday sentenced Pir Syed Sibt-ul-Hassan Shah alias Double Shah to 14-year imprisonment for being involved in the biggest financial scam, worth Rs. 441.347 million, in the history of the country.

The judge announced verdict after Double Shah confessed to his crime, saying he had no hope of conclusion of trial in near future.

Lashing out at National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities, he said they had presented a list of 4,400 witnesses against him but none of them had been produced so far. It seemed the trial could not be decided even in two decades, he added.

He admitted that he had received money from people but denied having cheated anyone. He said he had established the business for general public and returned their money after doubling it. He said he had returned more than two billion rupees to NAB. He pointed out that he did not want to run his case for two decades as NAB wanted to prolong it on one pretext or the other.

The judge adjourned the hearing till January 14 to proceed against other accused  Munawar Hussain Gilani, Syed Farhat Hassan, Chan Pir and Shaukat Ali  involved in the scam.

The accused allegedly deprived the general public of their hard earned money, worth Rs 441.347 million, by cheating them, shattering the socio-economic fabric of the society.

The accused had abetted each other in luring people into depositing their money with them, promising that they would return the double of the money they would give them. The accused managed to collect a hefty amount and did not return the investors their money. During the hearing, the accused denied the allegations leveled against them by the prosecution.

Lahore: Four agents of Double Shah arrested

mbasit February 3, 2012 
 LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau Punjab on Thursday arrested four agents of Double Shah involved in the embezzlement of Rs 350 million public money. They are Akbar Bashir Hanjra (100m), Shahid Nawaz (70m), Abdul Sattar Sulehria (100m) and Amir Sohail (80m). The accused are holders of unknown properties of Double Shah.