CHAKWAL: The fortune of a couple from the Karsal Village seems to have changed overnight as they have gone from being the sought-after operators of a ‘charity scheme’ to being heavily in debt to the people who trusted them with their money.

But now, after weeks of not delivering on their promises, the couple is claiming that they have been defrauded.

Six months ago, Nadeem Abbas and his wife Saira Nadeem began a charity scheme whereby they promised to provide poor families with dowry items at subsidised rates. Supported by a mysterious donor who the couple had refused to name at the time, they claimed to offer household items at throwaway prices.

Couple claim they were defrauded by electronics store owner; shopkeeper denies allegations, confirms couple made several purchases from his shop

Now, their home in Karsal, which had until a few weeks ago been elegantly furnished with amenities such as sofas, beds, an LCD TV and a refrigerator, looks bare. “We had to sell all our furniture to pay off people who had given us money. Now, we don’t even have enough to feed our children.”

Initially, the couple had come good on their promise and a few people had received dowry items at subsidised rates. But as word got out, the scheme attracted applicants from all over Chakwal. Demand was so high that the couple had to employ around 45 women as agents in various neighbouring villages to bring in more people.

However, when the payouts dried up, many of the applicants who had deposited the money but had not received anything in return came to the couple’s doorstep asking for their money back.

But now, the couple says they were fooled. “We have been tricked by the men who started the scheme. They are not giving us the dowry items, nor are they returning the money people had deposited,” claimed Saira.

She said they were now forced to seek help from their relatives because they had sold everything they owned. “We had to return the money, because some people threatened us with dire consequences if we didn’t,” she said.

Telling their side of the story for the first time, Saira revealed that six months ago, she went to the Ali Shan Electronics in Balkasar Village to buy some household items on instalment-basis. It was there that the owner of the shop, Shehzad Ahmed Awan floated the idea of the charity.

“He offered to pay me Rs15,000 per month to run the scheme. I accepted because I could really use the money.”

According to her, Mr Awan visited their house with four other men, two of whom she identified as Rifaqat and Ejaz.

“The men assured women in the village that the scheme was genuine. Shehzad pointed to the two unknown men and said they had donated Rs10 million for the cause and we believed him,” she said.

She told Dawn that Shehzad instructed her to buy all the dowry items from his shop, but after the first few times, stopped making deliveries of items that were supposed to be provided on subsidised rates.

“He did not give us any receipt for the items we bought from him,” she claimed, adding that they had paid Mr Awan and his associates at least Rs15 million for purchases that amount to around Rs40 million. But now, she said, he refusing to turn over the goods.

“Instead of returning the money, Shehzad is demanding that we pay him another Rs5.5 million,” she said.

However, when Dawn spoke to Mr Awan, he denied the couple’s allegations, but admitted that he had done business with them. “I did not ask them to run any charity for me. They came to my shop to purchase dowry items, they are just ordinary customers to me,” he said.

Amjad Hussein, a sales manager at the shop, confirmed that the couple had made several purchases from the shop, adding that once, they had placed an order for 150 fans.

The so-called charity had offered two schemes: one where applicants paid Rs20,000 and were offered items such as beds, sofas and dressing tables. Another scheme worth Rs30,000 included additional items, such as washing machines.

“We feel trapped,” Saira said, vowing to go to the police to seek justice.

Chakwal District Police Officer Dr Moeen Masood told Dawn that he had asked the station house officer of the local police station to look into the matter. “Even though the National Accountability Bureau deals with cases of corruption and financial fraud, we will also look into it,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2015

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