HYDERABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has expressed its intention to hold a fully fledged inquiry into the around Rs70 million fraud that had reportedly taken place in the National Bank of Pakistan’s Qasimabad branch during 2015-17 period.

The alleged fraud in the bank’s ‘gold loan scheme’ by several officers posted at its Qasimabad branch was detected during normal banking verification process in mid-May. The NBP management has suspended three officials, Samiullah Memon (head cashier), Atiq Arbab and Mazhar Jamali and the bank’s Qasimabad branch manager, Bashir Qazi, has referred the case to the FIA.

FIA deputy director Abdul Hameed Bhutto told Dawn over phone on Monday that he had received the manager’s complaint on May 26 after which an investigation was entrusted to SI Afroz Ahmed Kalwar.

“The SI will see that how many officers are actually involved in the fraud. I don’t believe that such a huge fraud can be committed by one officer,” said Mr Bhutto.

Sources within the bank confided to Dawn on Monday that its regional management was exerting pressure on around 15 officers -- posted at the branch during the period in question -- to deposit the amount.

The sources stated that the regional management could not absolve itself of the responsibility, for their own audit and findings seemed to have contradicted facts.

Memon is said to have deposited Rs2.4 million with the bank management and efforts are being made to get more money restored.

This correspondent approached NBP regional head Rafiq Bhurgari to know about the progress achieved so far but he declined to state anything in this regard officially. However, he sent a subordinate officer to oblige this scribe. The officer, however, did not share the required updates saying that he was not authorised to talk to the media.

A senior regional officer of the bank, who wished not to be named, said that the bank management had approached the FIA for a formal inquiry, whether criminal or otherwise. In his view, calculation mistakes in audit could not be ruled out but the NBP would punish the [errant] officers once money was recovered.

Some of the 15 officers being grilled in the alleged fraud are said to have argued that how could they deposit such a huge amount when they had nothing to do with the whole mess.

The bank management, according to the sources, anticipate that more of the embezzled money will be deposited by this weekend. One source claimed that the report of the audit conducted on April 18, 2017 under the present regional management suggested that things were in order and no anomaly was found. “There is a point that when 129 accounts, whose numbers may increase, are not closed in the bank’s computer system, how did the auditors sign a certificate with no financial anomaly to this effect,” he said.

He pointed out that around 635 bags of gold were verified in vault in that very audit while in 2016 audit, 603 gold ornaments were confirmed without noting the fact when accounts are closed there should have been some variations in figures of gold quantity. He said that accounts against these quantities were closed manually alone.

Sources confirmed that the bank management had learnt that two of the [suspicious] bank officials were often found present in the branch till 8.30pm in the past and some heavy transactions were seen in their own accounts but this fact was perhaps not given due consideration.

The FIA has not accepted the bank’s request to restrict its investigation to one suspect. The bank management was informed that the FIA had its own standard operating procedure (SOP) which it would follow after starting an investigation, making it clear that the agency would see how many people were involved and what was their role in the alleged embezzlement.

The FIA has asked Mr Bhurgari to submit an application seeking “an open-ended investigation” into the matter. In view of the findings, a criminal case would be registered and disciplinary proceedings would follow, a source quoted the FIA deputy director as telling the bank’s regional manager.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2017