ISLAMABAD – Families in Islamabad and Rawalpindi invested their life savings in housing schemes and cooperative societies they trusted. But behind fake brochures and promises lay shocking reality as billions of rupees collected in fraud.
National Accountability Bureau NAB made shocking revealations, saying over 90000 plots were nothing more than a web of deception, leaving citizens empty-handed and betrayed.
The national anti-graft watchdog is probing what may be biggest housing scam in country’s history, as private housing schemes and cooperative societies in the federal capital and Rawalpindi allegedly defrauded citizens through massive land fraud, fake memberships, and fraudulent marketing over several years.
Investigations by NAB Rawalpindi have uncovered jaw-dropping irregularities. In Islamabad and Rawalpindi, more than 91,000+ plots and files sold far exceeding available land or approved layout plans (LoPs). 20,000 memberships issued without any land backing while 80,000 kanals of land advertised and sold that were not part of any approved project.
These private housing schemes sold 26,000+ plots from approved land but simultaneously promoted and sold 80,000 kanals of non-existent land, leaving investors high and dry.
One private housing scheme’s case applied for only 4,000 kanals in 2022 but falsely advertised a project size of 75,000–100,000 kanals. Marketed as an 80,000-kanal mega housing project, selling 30,000–40,000 plots. It collected Rs 50–60 billion from innocent buyers and three years later, managed to purchase only 34,000 kanals of scattered, unplanned land without regulatory approvals or NOCs.
Many private schemes oversold files, promoted fake land banks, and collected billions without buying sufficient land or starting development work. Cooperative housing societies, long considered “safe,” are also implicated:
Officials warn that the total public loss runs into hundreds of billions of rupees. Victims include government employees, professionals, retirees, and ordinary citizens who invested their life savings in hopes of securing a home in the federal capital.
DG NAB Rawalpindi Waqar Chauhan confirmed the figures, stating that NAB coordinated with the Cooperative Department and regulators to compile authentic, evidence-based data. He said NAB is preparing a reform package for the housing sector to protect citizens’ interests and curb these long-standing scams.
