Combating public frauds

»    Punjab in general and areas along GT road from Jhelum to Lahore in particular including Gujrat, Wazirabad and Sialkot are most vulnerable to public frauds

»    Foreign remittances pouring into this GT road economy enabling opportunist fraudsters to exploit the rich in their greed to become richer and the poor to satisfy their needs

»    Media has always been in the forefront in exposing corruption and public frauds. It must continue to play this role and increase mass awareness against this evil

»    Regulatory Authorities including SECP, PMDC, Registrar Cooperatives etc must act proactively to preempt public scams and amend their laws if required to ensure legal steps against fake set-ups

»    Local administration including law enforcement agencies must act sternly and swiftly against fraudulent steps in their areas

»    All stakeholders including media, civil society, the masses, administration and NAB must work in harmony to combat corruption and public frauds in particular

The role of NAB in tackling public frauds and providing effective relief to victims was acknowledged.

NAB at is its end remains committed to ensure that all kinds of frauds affecting the public at large are proceeded against in Accountability Courts as per the National Accountability Ordinance, so as to deter future scams. If the local administration including the law enforcement agencies and the Regulatory Authorities perform their prescribed roles as per the book, there is no reason why pubic frauds cannot be preempted. But perhaps more important is the role and cooperation of the masses and the media at large to remain alert, discourage and report all fraudulent activities to the authorities including NAB at the earliest, so that the evil is nipped in the bud at the outset.

It remains our national, social and moral responsibility to prevent public frauds and safeguard the interests of innumerable potential victims. Let us make Pakistan the land of pure and not the land of frauds.

The writer is a retired brigadier and director investigation NAB (Punjab)