The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi/Islamabad held a cheque-giving ceremony at its headquarters in Islamabad on Thursday in which it transferred the recovered money in terms of cheques to the victims of the B4U Ponzi Scheme fraud.
The case of B4U scandal being one of the largest financial scams in the history of Pakistan was led by Saif-ur-Rehman and his friends involving fake firms claiming the investors 7 per cent profit per month. On February 5, 2021, NAB initiated an inquiry after hundreds of complaints were lodged and referred to it by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Police officers seized 56 bank accounts, properties, and traced money of the defendant, and online evidence was also used to prove the statements.
As a result of these, NAB started recovery activities to the tune of Rs. 7.3 billion. In the initial part, Rs. 3.7 billion is getting divided among 17,500 victims. Out of these, 10,000 will receive the total amount and the other 7,500 will be paid 40% today and the other 60% within six months when the properties of the accused will be sold.
Read more: NAB Lahore Initiates Inquiry into Major Financial and Housing Scams
Speaking at the ceremony, Chairman NAB Lt. Gen. (R) Nazir Ahmed reasserted the pledge of the bureau to recover the full amount of money embezzled and hand it back to the people in time. Warning its citizens to be cautious with their investments in fake schemes, and praising the NAB Rawalpindi team of doing its job diligently, he announced an Umrah package to the team.
NAB further stated that the future payments in the B4U Ponzi Scheme case will go directly to the bank accounts of the victims-promoting transparency, protecting public confidence, and accountability.
