‘She threw us into hell’: Pakistani victims of $1.9 million Ponzi scheme narrate their ordeal

In the file picture taken on May 13, 2019, a currency exchange vendor adjusts Pakistani currency notes as he waits for customers on a street in Karachi. (Photo courtesy: AFP/File)
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Updated 10 December 2022
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‘She threw us into hell’: Pakistani victims of $1.9 million Ponzi scheme narrate their ordeal

  • Victims, mostly women, say they deposited money as part of over 100 ballot committees run by Sidra Humaid
  • Humaid, the treasurer, has requested Karachi court to provide her security after declaring herself bankrupt

KARACHI: Anila Khan, a 33-year working woman living in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, is scheduled to undergo surgery in March but her plans to go under the knife were shattered, when she came to know that she has been a victim of a multimillion ballot committee (BC) scam and has lost her deposit of Rs150,000 ($672), instead of receiving Rs600,000 ($2,688) for her surgery. 

Khan is one of hundreds of victims of the Ponzi scheme, which has so far not been officially reported to the authorities. 

The BC is an ages-old traditional method of saving outside of banking systems in which individuals pool money, often without any written record. Under the mechanism based on mutual trust, an individual receives the amount on their turn every month and it goes on until all the people involved are paid off their due sums. 

Khan, who had been a regular depositor since September, didn’t know that her plans would fall apart until she came across a “public apology” on the Facebook account of Sidra Humaid, the woman behind the now-famous Ponzi scheme, which has swindled hundreds of people, mostly women, of approximately Rs430 million ($1.93 million) as per the victims’ estimations. 

“She deceived me. She threw us into hell,” Khan told Arab News this week. “I am distraught and feel like being backstabbed.” 

She said she was not even sure of getting back the amount she had deposited in the last three months, let alone a sum of Rs600,000 she was supposed to get on her turn. 

In the Facebook post on November 27, Humaid informed her depositors she had “messed up” her committees and was now “practically bankrupt” with no means to pay the amount owed to them. 

“To solve the monthly payments issue I had to start more committees and that eventually resulted in a rolling loop that had no end,” she wrote. 

“Now I have to pay so much money that I cannot even calculate.” 

Her post dropped like a bombshell on members of over 120 committees she was running, with each member pitching in from Rs5,000 to Rs400,000. 

Humaid said if she was supported in her handcraft and home-cooked food businesses, she would be able to earn and pay off the amount. 

“If my Croise and Daily Bites are allowed to continue and my customers, friends and loved ones still support my businesses, then I would be able to earn and pay off my loans,” she stated in the post. 

But the treasurer did not have a plan or offer a timeframe to pay back people she had taken the huge sums of money from. 

Humaid also said she or her family had no properties, and they wouldn’t run away, but the victims said they came to know of her travel history, including a few trips abroad, and later found out she had vacated her home in Karachi as well. 

Humaid first began inviting people to join her BCs via Facebook some four years ago, according to victims. Members would deposit their amount into her bank account every month and each one of them would monthly receive a consolidated sum of BCs from the rest in their respective accounts on their turn. 

Humaid would also create a WhatsApp account of members for coordination after the launch of a BC. All this continued without any complaints from members until August this year, when Humaid started failing to keep her commitments. 

On December 6, she again took to Facebook and informed depositors she had requested a Karachi court to provide her security against what she called “continuous threatening calls, continuous visit of gunda (goon) sort of people” at her place. 

Humaid’s counsel, Kamran Alam, told the court that his client was being accused of doing an online financial fraud even though she neither sold any product nor used any advertisement on online platforms. 

To pursue their case, the victims said they created a WhatsApp group where people shared their distressing stories. 

The WhatsApp group has now turned into a “mourning meetup” group, with voice notes of women crying and desperately asking for help. 

“Sidra deceived us only after building trust for many years,” said Saima Gul, another victim of the Ponzi scheme. 

“I had several successful BCs over the last three years, which prompted me to start a committee of Rs30,000 ($133) for myself and another wherein my brother would deposit Rs300,000 ($1,335).” 

Gul said she was saving up money to perform Umrah, while her brother joined the BC to pay off the loan he had obtained for the construction of his home. 

“Not only do our problems remain unsolved, but we also practically lost Rs1.1 million ($4,896) of our hard-earned money,” she said. 

Another victim, Sonia Rashid, who contributed to a committee her share of Rs15,000 for two months, said when she listens to the stories of other victims, it makes her forget her own ordeal. 

“There is a woman being kicked out by her husband. Another lady said she was contemplating suicide,” Rashid told Arab News. 

“A working lady started BC of Rs50,000 ($222) per month for her marriage next November, she cries at night after disclosing it to her brother. You can’t imagine our pain. This lady has robbed us of our dreams.” 

Arab News tried reaching Humaid on her mobile phone, but it remained switched off on Thursday and Friday. 

Victims say Humaid occasionally comes online on WhatsApp groups to assure them of returning their money. Many of them are not even sure if they will get back their money in the absence of a written agreement. 

But Omar Memon, a noted lawyer in Karachi, said a formal agreement was not necessary for every financial matter. 

“As per the law, there can be a verbal agreement. All one needs is circumstantial evidence of the financial relationship,” he told Arab News. 

Memon suggested that the victims should immediately approach the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), whose cybercrime and financial crimes wings deal with such issues. 

“The victims should also approach the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which may check the bank accounts [of Humaid] and freeze them,” he said. 

“The central bank will see if she has laundered any amount abroad and will also check the possibility of funding any proscribed organization.” 

When contacted, Shehzad Haider, a deputy director at the FIA cybercrime wing, said the agency had not received any complaint regarding the matter. 

Abid Qamar, an SBP spokesman, said such saving schemes prevail outside of the banking systems only due to a lack of knowledge on people’s part. 

“People should utilize the presence of the banking sector which offers various instruments for saving purposes,” he said. 

Editor’s note: The names of the victims have been changed on their request.


ICC shortlists Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, UAE’s Waseem for Player of the Month award 

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ICC shortlists Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, UAE’s Waseem for Player of the Month award 

  • Shaheen Shah Afridi took eight wickets in last month’s T20I home series against New Zealand 
  • UAE’s Mohammad Waseem smashed 56-ball century in last month’s ACC Premier Cup final

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s pace sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi and UAE batter Muhammad Waseem have been shortlisted for the ICC Player of the Month award for April 2024, the International Cricket Council (ICC) reported on Monday, after the left-arm bowler’s string of impressive performances against New Zealand last month. 

Afridi led Pakistan’s pace attack against New Zealand in a home T20I series against the Black Caps in April. Pakistan failed to win the series against a second-string New Zealand squad but drew 2-2 against Michael Bracewell’s squad. 

The left-arm pacer, however, played a key role in Pakistan’s victories in two of the five matches played between the teams. 

The second T20I saw Afridi blitz through the Blackcaps batting lineup, taking three for 13 as Pakistan registered a dominant victory. Then, trailing in the series for the fifth and final contest, Afridi once again wreaked havoc, taking four for 30 to salvage the series draw. Eight wickets in the series at an average of 10.00 saw Afridi walk away with the Player of the Series prize.

“Shaheen picked up the only wicket in the rain-affected opening match of the series with the Kiwis and then followed that up with two eye-catching efforts in the second and fifth games of the series in Rawalpindi and Lahore,” the ICC said in a report. 

“Eight wickets in the series at an average of 10.00 saw Afridi walk away with the Player of the Series prize.”

UAE’s pinch-hitter Waseem is also among the three nominees from the men’s category after scoring bulk runs at the ACC Premier Cup and helping himself to a third T20I century in April. Waseem started the month with a first-ball duck against Kuwait before the 30-year-old quickly found form at the top of the UAE batting order as he helped himself to innings of 65, 45 and 48 in three consecutive matches.

“But Waseem’s highlight of the month came in the final of the ACC Premier Cup as he smashed six fours and a whopping seven sixes in making his third T20I century from just 56 deliveries and helping UAE to an impressive 55-run triumph over Oman,” the ICC said. 

Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus is the third nominee shortlisted by the ICC for his impressive performances during the team’s tour of Oman in April. 

Erasmus produced two Player of the Match performances over the course of the five-match T20I series, with his first one coming in a narrow six-run loss in the second game of the series when the versatile all-rounder hit 58 from 56 deliveries and backed that up with a spell that netted 3/7.

However, in the decisive fifth match, Erasmus smashed six sixes when scoring a quickfire 64 from 29 deliveries and then made a pair of crucial breakthroughs as Namibia clinched the series with an emphatic 62-run triumph.

Afridi, who has 81 wickets from 61 T20Is, will be Pakistan’s pace attack leader as the green shirts take on Ireland and England in two away series this month. Pakistan will then head to the US and West Indies where they are scheduled to compete in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 


Pakistan top court suspends verdict denying reserved parliamentary seats to Khan-backed party

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Pakistan top court suspends verdict denying reserved parliamentary seats to Khan-backed party

  • Under election rules, parties are allotted reserved seats in proportion to number of parliamentary seats they win in polls
  • Election Commission ruled in March Khan-backed SIC was not eligible for reserved seats, Peshawar High Court upheld ruling

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court on Monday suspended a verdict by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) that a party aligned with candidates backed by former premier Imran Khan was not eligible for reserved seats in the legislature, a blow for the country’s coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party couldn’t contest the Feb. 8 elections under its traditional electoral symbol, a cricket bat, which it was denied on technical grounds. The PTI subsequently struck an alliance with another party, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), in a bid to secure reserved seats for women and minorities in parliament. 

Under Pakistan’s election rules, political parties are allotted reserved seats in proportion to the number of parliamentary seats they win in the election. This completes the National Assembly’s total strength of 336 seats.

The Election Commission had ruled in March that the SIC was not eligible for reserved seats, a decision the alliance had appealed in the PHC, which also rejected it. The SIC then approached the Supreme Court to appeal the high court’s decision. 

A three-member bench of the top court took up the SIC’s petition for hearing on Monday. 

“The Supreme Court has suspended the Election Commission’s order and the Peshawar High Court’s order,” PTI Chairman Gohar Khan, who is also Khan’s lawyer, told reporters outside the top court after it rejected the PHC verdict. “This is a vindication of our stance.”

He said the Supreme Court had also barred members of other political parties elected on reserved seats that should have been allotted to the SIC from casting their votes for or against any legislation.

The PTI leader said the SIC had been deprived of 67 reserved seats for women and 11 parliamentary seats for minorities. After losing 78 reserved seats, PM Sharif’s coalition government had lost its two-thirds majority, he added. 

Khan, who is in jail following a string of convictions, and his PTI say the party was stripped of its bat symbol as a ruse to undermine its popularity and keep it from winning a maximum number of seats in general elections. 

In February, an agreement between Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif ended days of uncertainty and negotiations after the Feb. 8 elections produced a hung national assembly.

The PML-N’s 79 and the PPP’s 54 seats together made a simple majority in parliament to form a government and they also roped in smaller parties in the coalition.

Candidates backed by Khan won 93 seats but did not have the numbers to form a government. He and his party have rejected the results of the elections, alleging widespread rigging.


Pakistan’s benchmark share index rises as much as 1.5%

Updated 06 May 2024
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Pakistan’s benchmark share index rises as much as 1.5%

  • Pakistan’s benchmark share index has surged 73.4% over the past year, up 12.9% year-to-date
  • Market reacting to Saudi business delegation’s arrival, IMF statement on mission visit, says analyst

KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark share index rose 1.5% during intraday trade on Monday, to an intraday high of 72,986 points.

The index has surged 73.4% over the past year and is up 12.9% year-to-date.

A Saudi delegation arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for talks on trade and investment opportunities, particularly in the exploration and production sectors.

Adnan Sheikh, assistant vice president at Pak Kuwait Investment Company, said the market was up following news of the delegation’s arrival along with an IMF statement regarding a mission visit.

“The PSX is still very cheap with price to earnings ratio of under 5x compared to average of 8x,” Sheikh added.

Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion program, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a new longer term program.

An International Monetary Fund mission is expected to visit Pakistan this month to discuss a program, the lender said on Sunday ahead of Islamabad beginning its annual budget-making process for the next financial year.

The IMF did not specify the dates of the visit, nor the size or duration of the program.

Earlier, in an interview with Reuters, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the country hoped to agree the outlines of a new IMF loan in May.

Pakistan is expected to seek at least $6 billion and request additional financing from the Fund under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.


Saudi officials arrive in Karachi to carry out immigration procedures under Makkah Route Initiative

Updated 15 min 15 sec ago
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Saudi officials arrive in Karachi to carry out immigration procedures under Makkah Route Initiative

  • Makkah Route Initiative allows for completion of immigration procedures at pilgrims’ country of departure
  • A total of 65,000 pilgrims in Karachi, Islamabad are expected to utilize Makkah Route Initiative during this year’s Hajj

ISLAMABAD: Saudi officials arrived in the southern port city of Karachi on Monday to carry out immigration procedures under the Makkah Route Initiative for Hajj pilgrims, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) said. 

Pakistani officials confirmed in April Saudi Arabia’s decision to approve the Makkah Route Initiative’s expansion to the airport in Karachi, the country’s most populous city. Launched in 2019, the program was initially extended only to the airport in Islamabad.

The Makkah Route Initiative allows for the completion of immigration procedures at the pilgrims’ country of departure, making it possible to bypass long immigration and customs checks on reaching Saudi Arabia. The facility significantly reduces waiting times and makes the entry process smoother and faster.

“A group of 44 Saudi immigration officials has arrived in Karachi as part of the Road to Makkah Project,” PCAA said in a statement. “The immigration team will carry out Saudi immigration procedures for Hajj pilgrims at Karachi airport who are traveling under the Road to Makkah Project.”

The Saudi immigration officials were welcomed by the acting counsel general of Saudi Arabia in Karachi, the director of Hajj in Pakistan, representatives of the Airport Security Force, Pakistan Customs, Anti-Narcotics Force, Border Health Services, and the Federal Investigation Agency.

Pakistan’s religious affairs secretary told a media briefing in April that a total of 65,000 Hajj pilgrims would utilize the Makkah Route Initiative at Karachi and Islamabad airports this year. The official said 41,000 of the 65,000 pilgrims will make use of the facility under the government’s Hajj scheme, while the remaining 24,000 will rely on private tour operators.

A total of 29,500 pilgrims will use the facility from Islamabad while 35,500 will be able to avail it from the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. 

Saudi Arabia last year restored Pakistan’s pre-pandemic Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims and abolished the upper age limit of 65. More than 81,000 Pakistani pilgrims performed Hajj under the government scheme in 2023, while the rest used private tour operators.
Pakistan will launch Hajj 2024 operations from May 9 in eight airports across the country till June 9. This year’s pilgrimage is expected to take place from June 14-19.


Pakistan wants ‘larger, longer’ IMF bailout, PIA privatization by early July — FinMin

Updated 23 min 54 sec ago
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Pakistan wants ‘larger, longer’ IMF bailout, PIA privatization by early July — FinMin

  • Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion program that helped stave off sovereign default
  • Finance minister says hopeful PIA and other privatization deals would get through “finishing line” by early July

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Monday Islamabad was seeking a “larger and longer” bailout program from the International Monetary Fund, whose mission would arrive in Islamabad within the next ten days to start discussing a new loan deal.

Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion program, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer term program.

Pakistan’s financial year runs from July to June and its budget for fiscal year 2025, the first by Sharif’s new government, has to be presented before June 30.

The IMF has not specified the dates of its Islamabad visit, nor the size or duration of any new program.

“We have requested the IMF … that we want to go into a larger and a longer program with the fund and they have acceded that request, and we are expecting the mission to arrive here within a week to 10 days, where we will start discussing the contours of the next program,” Aurangzeb said while addressing a conference in Islamabad. 

He said Pakistan needed a new IMF program to bring “permanence” to macroeconomic stability and continue to carry out “structural reforms.” 

The IMF has said accelerating reforms was more important than the size of a new program, which would be guided by a package of reforms and balance of payments needs.

Under the last $3 billion bailout, Pakistan implemented several IMF-mandated reforms, such as budget adjustments, increasing interest rates, and higher energy prices. 

Among expected reforms under a new program are strengthening public finances through gradual fiscal consolidation, broadening the existing tax base and improving tax administration, and debt sustainability, all while protecting the vulnerable.

Pakistan also needs to restore the viability of the energy sector and prevent further accumulation of circular debt arising from subsidies and unpaid bills. Other reforms will include cutting inflation, stimulating private sector growth and adopting a market-driven exchange rate to help balance external accounts and rebuild foreign reserves.

PIA PRIVATIZATION

“We have to broaden our tax base,” the finance minister said, outlining reforms under new IMF deal. “Our tax to GDP [ratio] is languishing at about 9 percent ... we have to start moving it toward 14- 15 percent.”

“We have to start resolving the complex energy equation … And the third one is the SOE [state-owned enterprises] reform,” Aurangzeb said. “Our prime minister has been very clear that the government has no business being in business … We need to and we will accelerate the privatization agenda.”

He said he hoped that PIA, the national carrier, and other privatization deals would get through the “finishing line” by early July. 

Last week, Pakistan pushed back the deadline for companies to express interest in buying PIA to May 18, a day before the expressions had originally been due. The privatization commission says 10 companies have already expressed an interest.

Pakistan’s government has previously said it was putting on the block a stake of between 51 percent and 100 percent in the loss-making airline.

The disposal of the flag carrier is a step that past elected governments have steered away from as it is likely to be highly unpopular, but progress on privatization is key to helping cash-strapped Pakistan pursue further funding talks with the IMF.