Rabbani, Ayaz, Shah, Aitzaz, Fazl receive fake bank receipts

ISLAMABAD: Major parliamentarians including the Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, opposition leaders of both the Houses of Parliament Syed Khursheed Shah and Aitzaz Ahsan and parliamentary leaders, including JUI-F head Maulana Fazlur Rehman, received fake bank receipts worth millions of rupees on Wednesday.

NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq wrote a letter to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor stating that the matter should immediately be investigated and he should be updated promptly on it.

The NA speaker’s office was informed by the bank that the transaction was bogus, while the office also directed the governor State Bank of Pakistan to present a report on it. According to a spokesman of the National Assembly, the SBP governor informed the NA speaker that it was a fake transaction. “The speaker had also given a task to the FIA to investigate it,” said the spokesman for the National Assembly.

The NA spokesman clarified that Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had neither an account in the bank branch from this TDR was issued nor in any city where from this was released. Earlier in a day, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah, upon arrival in the opposition chamber, received fixed deposit bank receipt of Rs100 million under his name.

The staff office of the opposition leader put before him the TDR (term deposit receipt) of the SME Bank mentioning the hefty amount. The opposition leader looked surprised as well as worried and expressed ignorance about the matter and instructed his staff to contact the relevant bank immediately on the subject.

When contacted, the bank officials declared the TDR to be bogus and said they did not issue any such deposit receipt. Following this, Khursheed Shah instructed his staff to write a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency.

Following the unusual scenario with the Senate Opposition Leader, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani also received a SME bank receipt at his home in Karachi. The Senate chairman said that the receipt stated that he had deposited Rs100 million in the bank.

Mian Raza Rabbani ordered an inquiry into the matter, calling the receipt fake. "This receipt is fraud, I don't have an account in that bank," he said. The Senate chairman said that he had written a letter to the FIA and the board of the SME Bank.