Letter To The Editor: The BCCI Scandal Is Not Pakistan’s

The Embassy of Pakistan's press attaché responds to Michael Kugelman's piece on the BCCI scandal.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 1:  US Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) addresses reporters 01 October 1992 at the US Capitol about the release of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Terrorism's report on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International's (BCCI) illegal financial dealings.  BCCI officials were indicted in 1991 amid allegations of fraud, money laundering for drug dealers and support of terrorists.  (Photo credit should read ROBERT GIROUX/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 1: US Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) addresses reporters 01 October 1992 at the US Capitol about the release of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Terrorism's report on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International's (BCCI) illegal financial dealings. BCCI officials were indicted in 1991 amid allegations of fraud, money laundering for drug dealers and support of terrorists. (Photo credit should read ROBERT GIROUX/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 1: US Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) addresses reporters 01 October 1992 at the US Capitol about the release of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Terrorism's report on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International's (BCCI) illegal financial dealings. BCCI officials were indicted in 1991 amid allegations of fraud, money laundering for drug dealers and support of terrorists. (Photo credit should read ROBERT GIROUX/AFP/Getty Images)

Dear Editor,

Dear Editor,

In reference to the opinion article by Michael Kugleman published on May 17 under the title: “Remembering Pakistan’s Biggest and Baddest Fraud Scandal.” Editor’s note: The original article can be found here.

Regrettably, the title of the article is misconceived and scandalous as it attempts to establish unsubstantiated links between Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scam and Pakistan.

The Op-ed piece also smacks of a complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the facts surrounding the rise and fall of BCCI. We simply fail to understand why the blame for the scam by a Bank, incorporated in Luxembourg with Headquarters in London, is placed at Pakistan’s door, where only a few of worldwide 400 branches of the erstwhile bank existed. Moreover, the author has not explained how one individual, Agha Hassan Abedi, was responsible for every malfeasance of the bank, which being incorporated was a separate entity in the eye of the law. Very conveniently, the article has not mentioned that Abedi was also a British national.

Nadeem Hotiana

Press Attaché

Embassy of Pakistan

ROBERT GIROUX/AFP/Getty Images

Nadeem Hotiana is the press attaché at the Embassy of Pakistan to the United States.

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