Photonews Logo Photonews logo
  • Home
  • Pakistan
    • Punjab
    • Sindh
    • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
    • Azad Jammu Kashmir
    • Balochistan
    • Gilgit – Baltistan
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Videos
    Gen V Season 2 trailer
    Videos

    Gen V Season 2 Trailer Cast, Plot, Premiere Details

    July 26, 2025 3 Min Read
    IShowSpeed Daniel La Belle race
    Videos

    IShowSpeed Beats Daniel La Belle in 40-Meter Race, Hits 41M Subscribers

    June 24, 2025 2 Min Read
    Cardi B new single Outside
    Videos

    Cardi B’s ‘Outside’ Single Sparks Buzz Over Offset and Stefon Diggs

    June 20, 2025 2 Min Read
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Offbeat
  • Blog
  • Contact
Reading: NBP claims 600,000 ghost pensioners bagged billions
PhotoNews Pakistan PhotoNews Pakistan
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • Home
  • Pakistan
    • Punjab
    • Sindh
    • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
    • Balochistan
    • Azad Jammu Kashmir
    • Gilgit – Baltistan
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Offbeat
  • Blog
  • Contact
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2022 Photonews. All Rights Reserved.
PhotoNews Pakistan > Business > NBP claims 600,000 ghost pensioners bagged billions
Business

NBP claims 600,000 ghost pensioners bagged billions

Web Desk
By Web Desk Published August 19, 2015 4 Min Read
Share
SHARE
Islamabad: In what might well be one of the biggest financial scandals of the country, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) unearthed 600,000 ghost civilian and military pensioners who have been receiving up to Rs43 billion annually – roughly one-fifth of the country’s pension budget.

“During the process of opening bank accounts of the pensioners, we have identified 600,000 ghost pensioners,” said Mudassir Khan, Senior Executive Vice President of the NBP, on Tuesday while giving a briefing to Senate Standing Committee on Finance.

He said these ghost pensioners were receiving pensions from the military, the federal government and the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institute (EOBI).

Mudassir did not reveal the exact amount that these ghost pensioners were getting every year but with an average pension size of Rs6,000 per month, estimates would put the figure at nearly Rs43.2 billion.

It is the second such case of ghost recipients, as earlier the Benazir Income Support Programme caught 125,000 ghost beneficiaries who were receiving Rs2.2 billion annually.

The federal government paid Rs219 billion in civilian and military pensions in the last fiscal year and Rs43 billion is roughly one-fifth of the total amount. Three-fourths of the total pension budget or Rs167 billion, goes to military pensioners.

The actual payments to the ghost pensioners might be far higher than Rs43 billion as the volume of military pensions is far greater than the civilian pensions. The 320,000 federal government pensioners received Rs52 billion in payments last year while an amount of Rs167 billion was paid to 173,603 military pensioners.

“It is one of the biggest scams” said Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, the chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee. He said that the committee would institute a thorough probe.

After screening out 600,000 ghost pensioners, the active pensioners who are receiving pensions from the state-owned bank have come down to 1.63 million, said Mudassir Khan. The NBP executive added that more ghost pensioners could be identified through biometric verification.

Meanwhile, Mudassir deflected responsibility from NBP by claiming that the responsibility of paying pensions to ghost pensioners lay with the departments as the NBP was only disbursing the amounts. The Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Asif Ali, had raised the issue of ghost pensioners by seeking a six-monthly biometric verification of all pensioners.

However, he disputed the 600,000 figure on the grounds that the federal government’s civilian pensioners were only 320,000. Ali did not take into account the EOBI and military pensioners.

Bangladesh scam

The standing committee expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation of Rs18.5 billion in losses at the Bangladesh branch of the NBP. Mandivalla directed the NBP President, Ahmed Iqbal Ashraf, to proceed against people who were responsible for huge losses, showing displeasure over the lenient attitude of the management towards the accused persons.

The NBP president said that only 30% of the Rs18.5 billion can be recovered and that too over a period of five to six years. Independent investigators have blamed 61 NBP officers for the fraud including its former President Syed Ali Raza. The scam was first reported in the media in January 2014 and since then the NBP management is trying to protect the accused persons.

Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn Email Copy Link Print
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

HBL Saving Made Easy
HBL Saving Made Easy

Recent Posts

IHC PTA Chairman removal Order

Justice Babar Sattar Orders Removal of PTA Chairman Over Illegal Appointment

Luigi Mangione terrorism charges

Judge Dismisses Two Terrorism Charges Against Luigi Mangione in CEO Killing Case

Gout Gout sprinter

Gout Gout: The Australian Teen Sprinter Poised to Be Usain Bolt’s Heir

Post Archives

More Popular from Photonews

Maria B’s Transgender Defamation Case
Pakistan

Maria B Responds to Defamation Complaint Over Transgender Comments in 2025

3 Min Read
Pakistan Women Mountaineering 2025 Bari La Peak in Gilgit-Baltistan
Sports

Pakistan’s All-Women Team Summits 5,400m Bari La Peak in Historic Climb

2 Min Read
President Asif Ali Zardari in China’
Pakistan

Zardari’s China Visit Bolsters Pakistan’s Defense and Aviation Ties

3 Min Read
Tech

Google Pledges £5 Billion for UK Data Centre and Jobs Boost

Google announced a £5 billion ($6.80 billion) investment in the UK. The move, timed with US…

September 16, 2025
Offbeat

Female Iguana’s Rare ‘Virgin Birth’ Stuns Scientists

In a remarkable event, a female casque-headed iguana at the Exotic Zoo in Telford, UK, gave…

September 10, 2025
Entertainment

Kanye West and Elon Musk Share Personal Struggles in New Documentary

The upcoming documentary In Whose Name?, set to premiere in 2025, offers a raw look at…

September 15, 2025
Offbeat

Owen Cooper Becomes Youngest Emmy Winner at 2025 Awards

British actor Owen Cooper,15, made history at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. He…

September 15, 2025
PhotoNews Pakistan

Always Stay Up to Date

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

Categories

  • World
  • Pakistan
  • Punjab
  • Sindh
  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Balochistan
  • Azad Jammu Kashmir

 

  • Top News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Videos
  • Tech
  • Offbeat
  • Blog

© 2024 Phototnews
All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?