SKARDU, Nov 29: Special prosecutor Nisar Ahmed on Friday filed a reference in the Regional Accountability Court (RAC), Northern Areas, against a Rs190 million investment scam, the biggest fraud reported in the region.

Official sources said the case was prepared in light of the investigations carried out by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi.

A fraudulent investment company – Big Board – collected more than Rs190 million from the people in Northern Areas, with promises of 15 per cent profit on the deposited amount.

The Big Board had established several offices that were inaugurated by local influential people, including social, religious and political figures in a move to gain public’s trust in the company.

The sources said the prosecutor had also requested Justice Mohammad Alam to order transportation of four accused arrested in the case to Gilgit.

The four men – Syed Haider Sarosh, Mohammad Riaz Khan and Ahmed Rahman of Karachi and Mohammad Sadiq of Gilgit – are currently being detained in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Another employee of the Big Board, Haider Abbas Naqvi, a resident of Karachi, has not yet been arrested because of some legal difficulties. However, he could be detained on the orders of the accountability court.

It is worth mentioning that mediocre people, mostly retired government employees and farmers, deposited their money in the Big Board, hoping for higher returns.

The scam victims have continuously been demanding that the government should recover their money from the fraudsters, and some of them have even threatened to commit self-immolation and suicide in case their money was not recovered.Now after the submission of the case in the Regional Accountability Court, the affected people hope that they would get back their deposited amount.

The scam is the biggest financial scandal in the history of Northern Areas, which involved more than 1,000 victims.

The sources said NAB had so far recovered Rs15 million from the Big Board, however, Rs184.3 million was still to be recovered. According to sources, in case of a plea bargain, the accused would have to pay Rs36.8 million each.