How to rob bank, Pakistan style
The President issued an Ordinance late Friday evening amending the Banking Laws on confidentiality that was preventing the Pakistan Banking Council (PBC) from publishing the full list of loan defaulters including those who had their loans written off. Among the many bold acts of the Caretaker PM uptil now, this has been the most courageous by far. It is a clear indicator that the man means business, Moeen Qureshi’s present initiative can only be exceeded if he makes public the list of drug barons and their contacts in the various walks of life in Pakistan.
Those who are electoral candidates among the loan defaulters have uptil Sept 13 to clear their dues to be eligible for taking part in the general Elections. Since the list reads like a Who’s Who of the elite it is a safe bet that the non-politicians among the list must be cursing the fate that brought Moeen Qureshi to the fore and front in Pakistan. One hears a good deal of muttering about “exceeding his mandate” being bandied about. It is, therefore, safe to presume that this act will not go unchallenged, legally and extra-legally, by those who have plundered the financial institutions at will. The bank robbers committing armed dacoity in Pakistan have not managed to together equal even one-third of the figure written off on “merit”, Rs 1.50 billion, what to talk about the total default of Rs 60 billion, nearly US $ 2 billion.
The word “merit” in writing off a loan default is a slur on the concept of description, it is meant to describe the whitening of soft collar crime by Bank officials who were either influenced by authority or underhand money to do so, in short they were collaborators in crime engaged in the covering up of malfeasance. It is important to ascertain how many of these senior Bank executives still command positions of authority in various banks. As accomplices they must be made accountable, maybe even bear the share of the burden of returning the overdue loans. Some businessmen made the art of borrowing money from banks for setting up industries with the collusion with senior bankers, then making that industry sick before applying to get their loan written off into a virtual science. In other countries these people would have been declared bankrupt and their assets would have been auctioned to pay off as much as possible of their bankruptcy. In Pakistan they are alive and well and able to plunder other financial institutions. Among those on the defaulters list are the captains of industry and commerce in Pakistan who continue to roll in wealth despite their “bankruptcy”. One gentleman who owes over Rs 400 million (and still counting) is a specialist in making industries sick. This is probably why former PM Nawaz Sharif made him Chairman of the Task Force targeted to revive sick industries, on the possible theory of “setting a thief to catch a thief”.
Some of the contenders for the purchase of Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) are also on the defaulters list. Razzak Adamjee and Abdul Qadir Tawakkal were both defaulting on loans from MCB even while they were trying to buy out the bank! Some prominent media Moghuls have also defaulted on loans and as such one understands their reluctance to publish articles in their newspapers on possible action to get reimbursement of defaulting loans and the prosecution of loan defaulters thereof as common criminals. On what moral grounds is the government permitting action against dacoits and not taking action against those on the list of defaulters? Should we give equal opportunity to the dacoits to return their loot? If the defaulters do not repay their overdues by a certain time or do not reschedule their debts to the satisfaction of a Committee of people of integrity so chosen and appointed by the Federal Government then their entire property should be confiscated and the proceeds used to pay off their debts.
No aspirant politician (or his nearest family members like father, son, daughter, mother, brother etc) who owes money to any of the financial institutions should be allowed to compete in the General Elections next month. What was holding them back from repaying their overdues, the fig leaf of confidentiality was only an obstacle created out of self-interest for the prevention of disclosure? If these people come back to the Assemblies, they will have the same capacity for influence that kept the disclosures from becoming public for the past several years. What would stop them from using their influence to get the amount of overdues they are forced to pay because of the Sept 13 deadline for eligibility as another loan after their elections? At the very least these persons (and their near and dear ones) should be placed on a blacklist for further loans for a period of time not less than the period for which they are likely to get elected. One must of course differentiate whether the default is of the original loan amount or of the penal interest. Since the penal interest in Pakistan is quite high, a negotiated settlement with the Bank could have meant that the Client returned the original loan and got the penal interest waived. Some consideration must be allowed for this aspect.
The Karachi Stock Exchange was recently graced by the Acting President who dished out awards to our commercial and industrial giants for their economic achievements. Some of those receiving accolades and recognition are also on the list of defaulters. They may well also be on the list of tax evasion and one does find some of them “Mentioned in Dispatches” in the CIA Report on the Heroin Trade in the region. For too long we have confused respectability with money and used excuses to protect the rich while they have engaged in the white collar crime of looting banks at their will. One may not agree with him on the inordinate price rise but at least Moeen Qureshi has his heart in the right place as regards setting things right in Pakistan, mandate or no mandate!
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