FIA traces 'mother' declared dead for insurance claim worth millions

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has found the woman who had been declared dead by her children for getting the insurance money worth millions, ARY News reported on Friday.

FIA official found out the ‘dead mother’ during an investigation regarding the fake insurance claims.

An investigation officer of the intelligence agency traced the woman, Seema Khar, who is happily residing along with a relative. After finding the ‘dead mother’, her statement was recorded by the agency.

Seema Khar has claimed that she was completely unaware about receiving insurance money on her name. In her statement, Khar said that her son and daughter are residing in the United States (US) and never returned to Pakistan for many years.

Read: Insurance scam: Pakistani man jailed in UK for faking death, posing as wife

Earlier in December last year, a man and a woman in Karachi had been blamed for faking the death of their mother to receive Rs 250 million from a United States (US)-based insurance company, said FIA after receiving a written complaint from the US Consulate in Karachi.

A case had been registered on the written complaint, submitted by the US Consulate official to the FIA human trafficking cell under fraud charges against two individuals, identified as Fahad Saleem and Fariya Saleem.

According to sources having knowledge of the entire scam, Fahad Saleem and Fariya Saleem had faked the death of their mother to receive Rs 250 million from a US insurance company.

It began after Seema Saleem Khar, the mother, acquired two insurance policies from a US company in 2009, they said adding that on 08 June 2011, the death certificate of Seema Saleem was submitted with the insurance company to claim the amount.

Read: Man arrested in Karachi for claiming fake insurance of vehicle

The death certificate cited the death as sudden while a Lyari graveyard also provided fake receipts of the burial.

The woman’s daughter had been found involved in acquiring fake documents while the son applied for the insurance and received the claim based on the forged documents.

Soon after getting the insurance amount, Fahad Saleem had visited Pakistan and opened two accounts at Dhoraji and Jheel Park branches of a bank.

The FIA had also carried out raids to arrest the brother and sister to unearth the details into the scam.