BATTAGRAM: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started investigation against a local NGO for operating a ‘benami’ account in a multinational bank in Battagram district for its monetary transactions.

A senior official of the agency told Dawn on Tuesday that the FIA Peshawar had recently received an application from a citizen from Islamabad, Shafiq Ahmad, in which he had stated that Pak Rural Development Programme had opened an account with Bank Alfalah in Battagram by using his name.

The account was opened on Oct 18, 2010, but Mr Ahmad came to know a few weeks ago when he contacted the bank to inquire about his account in a branch in Peshawar. But to his surprise he was told by the online bank official that he had another account in Battagram, which Ahmad claimed to have never visited in his life.

A citizen from Islamabad had approached it, complaining his name was used in opening the account

“The bank never contacted me in the last eight years for any transactions in the account,” said Ahmad by telephone from Islamabad. He added that he met the regional head of the bank in Islamabad, but he informed him that there were signatures which seemed to have resemblance with his in the bank’s account opening documents.

“In person appearance for opening a bank account is necessary and now the biometric system has been made compulsory,” said Naseer Shah, manager of the above-mentioned bank branch in Battagram where the NGO has opened the account by using Mr Ahmad’s name as one of the signatories of the account. The account is still operational and has some amount.

The bank official admitted that an FIA official came to his branch for investigations into the matter. “We told the FIA official that Shafiq Ahmad’s name has been omitted as signatory of the NGO’s bank account,” said the official.

But, Mr Ahmad said he was still receiving the weekly bank statement of the NGO in which his telephone number was clearly mentioned. “I want to know if the NGO has used the account for fraud, money laundering or terrorism funding.”

The account has mentioned the address of the NGO, but when this scribe visited its office in Battagram city, it was closed. “One Amjad used to operate the office but for the last several months the office is closed,” said Fazlur Rehman, a social activist.

After the 2005 earthquake, several NGOs started operating for the rehabilitation of effected people, but many were involved in bogus activities just to make money in the garb of supporting the earthquake victims.

FIA Inspector Hassan Malik told Dawn that he had investigated the bank officials and they had provided him the account details. He added that after analysing the available evidence they would decide a further course of action.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2018