Gold fraud uncovered at Fatah Jang Bank: Rs. 15mln missing, fake ornaments found

FATAH JANG: A major financial scandal has been exposed at the Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited’s Fatah Jang branch, where gold worth approximately Rs. 15 million (1.5 crore) has reportedly gone missing from bank lockers.

As per the details, fake gold ornaments were allegedly placed in the lockers in place of the original gold pledged by at least seven customers who had secured loans against the collateral.

The scam came to light when a female customer arrived at the bank to reclaim her gold after settling her loan. Upon inspection, she found that her original gold jewelry had been swapped with counterfeit ornaments, leading to a protest and exposing the scam.

Deputy Divisional Head Rawalpindi, Nasir Abbas, confirmed that over 100 customers had deposited gold at the branch. After a full audit, seven lockers were found to contain fake gold.

All seven customers had deposited their ornaments as collateral in 2024 to secure loans. One bank staff member reportedly resigned during that period, raising suspicions of internal involvement. The detailed report has already been sent to the head office, and a high-level inquiry committee will now determine the culprits.

Tragically, two of the affected customers have died since the incident — one of them, Shahroze Khan from Jhang, reportedly succumbed to a heart attack after learning of the fraud.

The victims, including Nazia Begum (wife of Khaliqdad), Muhammad Naeem of Dhoke Kair, Gul Noreen and Abrar Hussain of Jhang, staged a strong protest outside the bank. They demanded immediate compensation based on the current market value of gold, and appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Punjab Finance Minister, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, and senior officials of the Cooperative Bank for justice.

Nasir Abbas assured that the Board of Governors will make a final decision regarding the compensation to victims and action against the responsible staff once the committee’s findings are complete.