Spanish company complains of fraud in Green Line project

GRUPSA Door System, a Spanish company known for its automatic equipment and related services, reached out to Pakistani officials in the Madrid embassy to help investigate a fake invoice in its name which the contractor had forged to take out more than five hundred million rupees. The company had supplied platform screen doors (PSDs) for the Green line project against over a half million euros and the supply was made through a Pakistani contractor of the project more than two years ago, but it later came to light that the government of Pakistan was being charged more than two and a half million euros for the services in the name of Spanish company.

This was harming the reputation of GRUPSA Door System and therefore, they decided to approach the country’s anti-graft and investigation institutions.

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The following was explained by GRUPSA’s letter to the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Wing:

“M/S MGH [Pakistani contractor] has prepared a false/forged/fabricated document/invoice of M/S GRUPSA and has claimed payment of Euro 2,732,232.76 [more than two million euros] as the total amount of manufacturer invoice from the Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited [now called Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited] on account of import of Automatic Platform Screen Doors from Spain”

It also registered the same complaint with National Accountability Bureau which read:

The import price received by M/S GRUPSA is 511,957 euros against an issued invoice No. AAAQ17544-11 dated 15-05-2018 but M/S MGH claimed Euros 2,732,232.76 with a forged document dated June 12, 2018 by using digital data of GRUPSA as well as identity information of GRUPSA without authorization with intent to commit fraud by making alteration as invoice ref. no. AAAQ 3743/2018 and an amount of claimed Euros 2,732,232.76 on the soft copy of the letterhead of GRUPSA for wrongful gain and this very act of M/S MGH Engineering and Control (PVT) Limited caused damages and harm to GRUPSA.

Though the company has already received its payment, it is still making every effort to clear its name and protect its credibility in front of the Pakistani public.

The much-awaited Green Line Bus Rapid Transport System was inaugurated by ex Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with the initial cost of Rs16.85 billion. The project was later extended by another 10 kilometers as initially planned by the Sindh government which ultimately led to the the estimated cost crossing the figure of Rs24bn. However, the it still remains stalled due to one reason or another.