Major Housing Fraud Exposed in Islamabad Cooperative Housing Society
A shocking housing fraud has been uncovered in the Islamabad Cooperative Housing Society (ICHS), which authorities are calling one of the largest scams in Pakistan’s real estate history. Investigators have revealed that while the society was officially allowed to issue only around 6,000 plot files, over 42,000 files were allegedly distributed illegally.
According to sources close to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigation, the society simply did not have enough land to support such a huge number of allotments. The approved layout plan and available land bank only permitted 6,000 files, yet former office-bearers and their facilitators issued nearly 42,000 files. This massive discrepancy has left around 36,000 plot files classified as illegal, fake, or unsupported by actual land.
The probe has also found that payment records and allotment documents for thousands of files are either missing or completely unavailable. Many innocent citizens were allegedly sold plot files for land that did not even exist. Investigators believe this systematic fraud helped the accused collect billions of rupees from the public through fake, duplicate, and excessive files. So far, financial irregularities amounting to more than Rs16 billion have been detected, and this amount is likely to rise as the investigation deepens.
NAB officials have confirmed the arrest of seven key suspects. Those in custody include former Secretary General Mehdi Khan Shakir, former Treasurer Malik Muhammad Nawaz, former Executive Member Muhammad Arshad, and four individuals from the Land Stock Dealing Point Company — Munir Akhtar, Ali Mahmood, Yameen Malik, and Ghulam Jillani.
The Accountability Court has granted NAB a seven-day physical remand of the accused to recover documents, trace money trails, and identify more people involved in the scam. Multiple teams are now working on different aspects of the case, and officials expect more arrests in the coming days.
This Islamabad housing fraud has raised serious concerns about mismanagement, abuse of authority, and lack of oversight in cooperative housing societies. Affected plot holders are now worried about their hard-earned money and future. The case serves as a major wake-up call for regulatory authorities to strengthen monitoring of such societies across Pakistan.
