Pakistani trader cons Chinese company, sends soil in containers instead of metal ore

KARACHI: Taking action against fraud, the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Cooperative Crime Circle has arrested a Pakistani businessman for allegedly conning a Chinese company of Rs115 million, Daily Jang reported.

According to the FIA officials, a case has been registered against Syed Zeeshan Afzal Bilgrami, the owner of Dan Zu Traders, on the complaint of Chinese import company's Corin Chen.

The suspect — arrested from his office at Karachi's II Chundrigar Road — is accused of allegedly sending soil and gravel in 60 containers instead of a mineral to the Jiangsu Provincial Foreign Trade Corporation.

As per details, Bilgrami inked an agreement with the Chinese company on January 17, 2024, under which the former was to export 1,500 metric tonnes of chrome ore to the latter.

The very next month, Dan Zu Traders shipped a shipment of 60 bulk containers from Karachi Port to Xingang port in China.

However, the containers were filled with soil, gravel and stones instead of the precious metal chrome ore — a naturally occurring mineral that contains chromium, iron, and oxygen, and is used to make ferrochrome, an important component in stainless steel.

Before the shipment reached China, the accused fraudulently executed the said Letter of Credit (LC) held in his company’s bank account.

The suspect submitted fake and bogus documents of an inspection certificate of quality and weight deposit in the bank.

Bilgrami not only committed export fraud but also committed banking fraud by submitting fake, forged and bogus documents for the execution of LC in his favour.