Fact-check: Video does not depict German Broadcaster exposing financial scam in Pakistan

Online users are circulating claims suggesting that a German broadcaster uncovered a significant financial scam in Pakistan, alleging that donations from Dubai meant for underprivileged school children were misappropriated to purchase luxury items.

However, these claims are false.

Claim

On May 18, a 52-second video was shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), featuring the logo of Germany-based DW News.

In the video, a narrator purporting to be a DW reporter accuses a woman named Shehr Bano of misusing funds collected from Dubai, originally intended for distributing meals among underprivileged children in Pakistan. The narrator claims that funds meant for children were diverted for personal luxury, sparking outcry over financial oversight in charitable activities.

The post has been viewed over 161,000 times to date.

The alleged news report was also shared here, here and here.

Fact

No such report has been broadcasted by the German news broadcaster, DW.

A combined keyword and Google reverse image search revealed that the footage seen in the online video was extracted from a news report published by Voice of America on April 29, 2016. This original report featured Pakistani teacher Mohammad Ayub, who taught underprivileged children in a park in Islamabad.

The fact was also corroborated by a journalist of DW, who asked not to be named.

“This video does not carry our font or our design,” he said via messages, “We definitely did not report on [this topic].”

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