Less than £2m received against £13m dam fund pledges in UK

LONDON: When Pakistan’s former chief justice Saqib Nisar exhorted British Pakistanis to help build two dams through crowd funding in November last year, he promised that they will soon get an update about every penny raised once it lands into the dedicated bank account but several months later there is no update and it appears that the funds actually raised were far lower than the pledged amount — £2 million actually raised against the pledges of £13 million.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) UK leader Aneel Musarrat says he had hosted the former chief justice during the whirlwind tour — “Chief Justice and PM Dam Appeal 2018” — billed as the biggest fundraising effort ever.

An investigation by The News establishes that all donors, event organisers and fundraisers made tall and unrealistic claims and the actual money deposited into the account is not only a small fraction of what was pledged but the whole process is plagued by lack of transparency and the claims made by the organisers were geared to get media publicity.

A group called the Centre for Policy Dimension held the first fundraising event on November 22 at a West London restaurant. The retired chief justice was the chief guest. At the event £5.4 million were pledged. Nine months later, the organisers told this reporter that only about £33,000 was raised through selling tickets and £5000 donated by Allied Law Solicitors was deposited in the dam fund account set up by the Pakistan High Commission in the UBL’s London branch.

What happened to the remaining £5.4 million? The organisers said that a businessman pledged to deposit £5 million through deposits starting from April this year but not a penny has been deposited in three months. One donor promised to donate his two houses — one in Lahore and one in another city. No progress has been made on that.

PTI leader Aneel Musarrat held the mega fundraiser the following day on November 23 in Manchester where the former chief justice of Pakistan was the chief guest. It was announced at the event that £2.3 million has been raised but this week Aneel Musarrat, responding to questions, said that funds are “still coming in” and that “30 per cent collected” has been sent to Pakistan.

According to his claim, the total amount raised amounts to around £690,000. He said the amount was deposited in the dam fund account in London. He did not provide any proof that this amount was sent to Pakistan but said the funds were still coming in, providing no proof of the flow of funds. He said collections are “slow” because “some people paying over 5 years”.

The UK Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (UKPCCI) hosted a fundraising event on Park Lane where it was announced that £1.5 million has been raised. PTI leader and the UKPCCI’s Secretary General Waheed-ur-Rehman Miah said that an estimated £300k have been deposited into Adam Fund Account set up by the Pakistan High Commission.

He said: “We had pledges spread over 3 years & donors are paying by direct debits to the designated account.” He did not explain which charity was taking the money.The World Congress of Overseas Pakistanis (WCOP) organised a fundraiser in Central London. Its Chairman Naheed Randhawa told The News that the total pledged amount was £1,170,701 but the WCP did not receive any cheques in personal names and all cheques were deposited directly in the Dam’s fund. He said the WCOP banked cheque of £92,701 and the guests banked £178,000 directly into the account.

Of the total amount, the biggest cheque of £600,000 came from the Bestway Group. Dozens of other pledges were made at the event but there has been no progress after the retirement of justice Saqib Nisar.

At one of the Park Lane hotels, where the former CJP stayed, at least two groups met him posing for pictures and displaying poster size cheques. Both groups confirmed they did not deposit any money once the pictures were made and advertised on media. There was no one to follow up with these organisations.

On the way back from Midlands to London, the then CJP attended an event by a group of doctors called APPSUK. Pledges of money for the dam construction were made at the event where speeches were made but no money was given. A spokesman for the APPSUK said it independently runs medical services in Pakistan but confirmed no donations were given for the dam fund. “Our event didn’t raise funds. It was only a reception to raise awareness.”

In Birmingham, boxer Amir Khan’s Amir Khan Foundation teamed up with a group of community leaders to organise a fundraiser where pledges of more than £3 million were made but Amir Khan denied having anything to do with the monies raised. His spokesman said: “As far as I can recollect Amir was invited personally to be a chief guest by CJP at the event with the foundation a supporting partner. All monies raised and collected on the night were done so by the Chief justice’s dam collection.”

Councilor Rana Shaukat, the main organiser, confirmed that around £200,000 was raised at the event, including a cheque of £100,000 from Jamat-e-Islami’s UK Islamic Mission (UKIM). He said: “We provided details of dam fund to those in attendance and they promised to make direct contributions. Akram Halal Meat promised to give £100000 but we have no idea if that money was deposited.”

A source in Pakistan High Commission said the organisers of all events failed to meet their commitments, made publicly. On record, the High Commission spokesman said it had nothing to do with the fundraisers and bank account was set up on the direction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The spokesman said it was not responsible for the actions of anyone. The spokesman did not provide answers of remaining questions.