KARACHI, Sept 6: Investors in stocks, who lost their life-time savings during the stock market crisis of March 2005, are eagerly awaiting the forensic investigation report.

In early July three forensic experts from the US were called in to assist a team of Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) officials and foreign auditors in uncovering the trails of the financial fraud, if one had actually been committed.

Seven to eight weeks have gone by since the experts were commissioned to finish the job in 10 to 12 weeks. But there is still a deafening silence on all fronts. No one knows what’s going on and how far there has been a progress. No one is quite sure even of the ‘terms of reference’.

But now that they have combed the ground so far, the important question is: Have the investigators found the smoking gun?

On Wednesday when Dawn — after exchanging pleasantries —asked Chairman SECP Mr. Razi-ur-Rehman Khan on how long could it take to unveil the experts’ report, the apex regulator could not follow the question on his cellphone and he excused himself for there was no landline near at hand from whence he could talk.

Questions, nonetheless, would continue to be asked. And a report would have to be presented to the investors, for otherwise it would be difficult to justify the huge sum in fees being paid to the investigators.

Termed as the most expensive corporate probes in the history of the country, the forensic investigators are being paid fees in the staggering sum of $10,000 per day, which if completed within the stipulated 10 to 12 weeks would work out to a total of $1 million.

Even the National Assembly standing committee on finance, which had directed that forensic investigation be carried out in compliance of the earlier directions of the task force formed for the purpose, is getting impatient.

A day earlier it asked the ministry of finance and the SECP to produce the final report before the committee by October 7. The committee conveyed its dismay over non-presentation of an interim report.

The March 2005 stock crash had seen Pakistan’s premier capital market, the KSE, lose nearly a quarter of its value in just 15 days, between March 15 and 30. The KSE index of 100 shares plunged by 2,595 points from its record high of 10,303 points on March 15, causing colossal losses mainly to small investors.

But most major brokers dispute that there really had been a crisis. A top broker terms it as a ‘correction’ and another equally large figure in the stock trade contends that what is referred to as a crash was merely a sudden dry up of liquidity.

The forensic detectives are understood to be still pouring over rolls and rolls of trading documents summoned from at least 60 brokerage houses. A day earlier they called upon brokerages to provide Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) or ‘codes’ of their clients during March 2005.

The purpose is understood to be to discover the ‘benami’ accounts. “There are no benami accounts”, says an owner of a leading brokerage house: “All client applications are necessarily accompanied by a photo copy of their ID card,” he argued.

An irate broker said: “So much of data is asked for each day, that we have set up a separate department to comply with the orders.”The role of a forensic investigator in prevention and detection of business frauds, murder and other crimes is well established. As a basic requirement, those investigators need to have working knowledge of the legal systems; litigation processes and procedures, understanding of business information and financial reporting systems, accounting and auditing standards and procedures and excellent communication skills. Are those foreign experts already armed with all these tools? How about the intricacies of the ‘badla system’? Do all brokers and their agents speak the English language and how about the US detectives’ understanding of the local dialect (Memon or Gujrati).

No one can back the fraudster, who must be apprehended and punished. But there is general skepticism among market participants on the ability of foreign investigators to be able to go far in their uncovering the trail of the crime.

Even the small investors, who lost money, are exhibiting little enthusiasm on a dramatic disclosure of what had happened at the KSE eight months ago.