Daily Times

KARACHI: A group of fraudsters has made millions of rupees by selling fake forms of Bait-ul-Maal in Manghopir, a poor neighbourhood of the city during couple of weeks.

Some people have been engaged in selling application forms to the residents of Manghopir claiming to provide them financial assistance from Bait-ul-Maal. The forms were sold for Rs 100 each as hundreds of people purchased the forms apparently by those suffering due to economic hardships in the country.

An elderly resident of Manghopir said that he had spent Rs 250 in the process, from buying to dispatching to Islamabad by post, only to know that it was bogus.

When the incident was report to police and upon the arrival of police force the fraudsters managed to escape untraced. “One suspect was taken to police station but after people assurance that he was not involved in that activity he was released, Tanveer Amjad ASI Manghopir informed.

Shakoor Mengal, local social activist said that people here are very naïve and uneducated that is why fraudsters choose fool them.

Desk officer at Pakistan Post in Manghopir said that before a week people started coming to send envelops to Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal Islamabad and as the number grew larger they told that they are just wasting their money but people did not heed and continued with their dispatching envelop.

UC Chairman Ali Akbar said that people do not understand that how they are being fooled. “When I told them that is was a fraud they said I was misleading them due to my association with PPP as the forms bears picture of Nawaz Sharif”, Akbar said.

When Daily Times checked the details and address given on the form it was transpired that the number 0800-13523 also matched with the given on the website of Bait-ul-Maal Pakistan but despite repeated attempts no body attended. Besides, the address was also found correct. Nobody from Bait-ul-Maal was available to comment.

Published in Daily Times, September 30^th 2017.