LAHORE: An imposter who introduced himself as the personal assistant (PA) of the aviation minister reportedly conned Olympian Talha Talib of his prize money.
The father of the Olympian has submitted a complaint with the Prime Minister Complaint Cell about the fraud incident. He said that a man who introduced himself as a personal assistant to aviation minister called him on August 16 and conveyed that the minister wanted to gift a car to Talha Talib over his success in the Tokyo Olympics.
The imposter then telephoned him again on August 20 and asked to receive the vehicle after submitting registration and freight charges in the bank. He added that they submitted an amount of Rs 360,500 in the bank.
Talha’s father said that when they reached Sambrial dry port to receive the vehicle, the men switched off his phone and could not be contacted. He said the money was received by Talha Talib as prize money for his success in Olympics
Talha Talib, the 21-year-old weightlifter ranked 5th in the 67kg men’s weightlifting contest at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The Olympian fell short of clinching a maiden weightlifting Olympic medal.
Meanwhile, a similar incident of fraud was reported to have occurred with Pakistani mountaineer Shehroze Kashif.
Kashif Suleman, the father of the mountaineer, said he has filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) regarding fraud committed against his family.
Speaking to a media channel, Suleman said that a man, presenting himself as the personal staff of a federal minister, had called his family and expressed the government’s desire to give them a car as a gift.
He said they were asked to deposit Rs285,000 under the pretext and he is filing a complaint with the FIA for fraud.
In May Sheroze Kashif, aged 19, become the youngest mountaineer to climb the world’s highest peak Mount Everest. In July, he became the youngest Pakistani to reach the summit of K2, the world’s second-highest peak.
