The Anti-Corruption Establishment has uncovered 900 suspected bogus property registrations in a single revenue estate in Gujranwala, allegedly causing a loss of more than Rs114.86 million to the provincial exchequer in taxes and duties.
ACE Gujranwala Region Director Amjad Shehzad said revenue officials, including tehsildars and patwaris who served in the area during the period under investigation, would be questioned in connection with the alleged fraud.
He said assistant commissioners posted in Gujranwala Sadar during the relevant period would also be included in the inquiry.
Addressing a press conference, the ACE director said the investigation began after complaints were received about alleged irregularities in revenue records in Mouza Ladhiawala Warraich.
He said ACE teams took the relevant records into custody and carried out a detailed examination.
Of the 4,987 mutations involving large and small land transactions carried out over the past two years, 900 were found to involve suspected bogus registrations, he claimed.
According to Shehzad, some documents showed stamp papers with a declared value of more than Rs3,000, while online verification showed the actual stamp papers were worth only Rs500.
He said verification of property numbers also revealed discrepancies, with the names of buyers and sellers in the physical documents differing from those in the online record.
The suspected bogus registrations allegedly caused a loss of Rs114.865 million to the government in taxes and other revenue, the ACE director said.
He said the inquiry was under way against revenue officials and patwaris posted in the area during the relevant period, especially those whose signatures appeared on the disputed registrations.
Shehzad named Tehsildars Sarfraz Cheema, Altaf Hussain Tarar, Arshad Dhullo and Imtiaz Sahi, along with Patwaris Bilal Butt and Mustafa Mann, as officials being investigated in connection with the alleged fraud.
He also alleged that a private team or mechanism was used for site verification. According to him, the team recorded videos during visits and allegedly raised objections deliberately, after which additional fees were reportedly charged.
The ACE director said assistant commissioners who served in Gujranwala Sadar from July 1, 2024, to May 4, 2026 would also be questioned to determine why the large number of mutations and the alleged revenue shortfall were not detected earlier.
He said around 1,800 buyers and sellers could be affected by the investigation and would be heard by the authorities.
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