Page 24 - Pakistan Link - December 31, 2021

P24 – PAKISTAN LINK – DECEMBER 31, 2021 COMMENTARY
Take Advantage of All Your

Year–End Tax–Planning Opportunities

n By Saghir Aslam as well as under “Deposit insur- FOUNDATION
Rawalpindi, Pakistan ance Frequently Asked Questions.”
Your financial advisor or invest- P.O. BOX 5481, Santa Clara, CA 95056 | (408) 244.3282 | www.hidaya.org
(The following information is ment professional is available to
provided solely to educate the Mus- discuss alternative solutions for One Million Meals
lim community about investing and the cash held in your account.
financial planning. It is hoped that The expended Bank Deposit Sweep
the Ummah will benefit from this will provide up to $250,000 in
effort through greater financial em- FDIC insurance per program Bank
powerment, enabling the commu- ($500,000 per program Bank for 50 C $1 $5 $10
nity to live in security and dignity joint account with two or more provides provides provides provides
and fulfill their religious and moral owners). The Expended Bank De-
obligations towards charitable ac- posit Sweep currently makes five 1 meal 2 meals 10 meals 20 meals
tivities). view the program information and program Banks available, resulting
End-of-year tax and investment disclosures for updates for updated in up to $1.25 millions in avail-
deadlines are fast approaching. But information on your sweep and oth- able FDIC insurance ($2.5 million
there’s still time to adjust your cur- er options available. for joint account with two or more
rent financial strategies to help you While maintaining funds in owners). The Standard Bank De-
lower your tax liability. the cash sweep program may be a posit Sweep currently consists of
suitable strategy for some individu- interest-bearing deposit accounts at
Now: als, keeping too much money in the two or more program banks affili-
• Review your portfolio with cash sweep or, keeping money in the ated with Wells Fargo advisor. The
your financial advisor to help ensure cash sweep for too long, may not Standard Bank Deposit Sweep will
your asset allocation still aligns with be the best way to reach your long- provide minimum of $500,000 in Donate online via check or card at
your goals. term financial goals. If you desire FDIC insurance ($1 million for joint
• Ask your financial advisor to maintain cash or cash alternative accounts with two or more owners). www.hidaya.org
for a realized and unrealized gain/ balances for other than a short-term Deposit to affiliated banks in three
loss report to assess the investment period, you should research other standard Bank Deposit Sweep will
income and capital gain/losses you investment options by contracting be limited to Wells Fargo Bank, N. or call us at (408) 244-3282
should expect this year. your financial advisor or invest- A., Wells Fargo National Bank West, Hidaya Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization with Tax ID # 77-0502583
ment professionals or by logging in and Wells Fargo South Central, N.
Before December 31: to your brokerage account online at A. Important note for international
• Make maximum contribu- Wells Fargo advisors.Com and using client accounts: Because of opera- edu email address was fake. When nalists of her generation.
tions to your employer retirement our research tools. tional limitations, al account type Payne asked Abbass if she would Over a career spanning more
accounts. If contributing to your (e.g., single, joint account) of inter- like to share more information, Ab- than 20 years, she had covered India’s
IRA, the deadline is April 15, 2022. Reminder regarding FDIC in- national clients are recognised as bass eagerly cooperated. She sent in a biggest stories as the country trans-
If you are age 50 or older, take ad- surance coverage for the Bank De- single accounts in the Bank Deposit trove — the phone number from the formed itself into an economic pow-
vantage of catch-up contributions. posit Sweep Sweep program. As a result, al ac- UAE, the emails, screenshots of the erhouse. She was polite but fearless,
• Evaluate ways to achieve Balance on deposit in the bank counts types of international clients fake Harvard documents and hotel the anchor of the 9 o’clock news pro-
your charitable giving goals that Deposit Sweep Programs, together are treated as single accounts for booking records. gram on NDTV, one of India’s most
may result in potential tax savings. with any other of your deposits at purpose of the Bank Deposit Sweep But it is not clear what action, prominent independent news chan-
Review your situation with affiliated and unaffiliated banks (to- Program. See the cash sweep pro- if any, Harvard took. Payne did not nels, a familiar face across a nation of
your financial advisor to help keep gether, the “Program Bank”), are in- gram Disclosure Statement at Wells respond to requests for comment. Ja- 1.4 billion people.
your portfolio on track. sured by the FDIC, an independent Fargo advisor. Com/cash sweep for son Newton, a Harvard spokesman, “She was our No. 1,” said her
agency of the US government, up to a description of how deposits are declined to comment on what the former boss, Prannoy Roy, NDTV’s
Important information re- a maximum amount in accordance made in the Bank Deposit Sweep university did with the information founder.
garding the cash sweep for your with the rule of the FDIC. Deposits Programs. Abbass provided. But by 2019, she was fried.
account(s) (including principal and interest) at (Saghir A. Aslam only explains By the time the hacker or hack- “It was a mad year,” Razdan said,
The cash sweep program allows each of the program banks are eligi- strategies and formulas that he has ers reached out to Razdan that same citing the string of huge stories that
your otherwise uninvested cash ble for federal deposit insurance up been using. He is merely providing month, in late November 2019, they broke, from a conflict between India
holdings, as well as dividend and to $250,000. information, and NO ADVICE is were well practiced. and Pakistan and national elections
interest payments, to “sweep “auto- You are responsible for moni- given. Mr Aslam does not endorse But they were also attracting to the profound reorganization of
matically from your account(s) into toring the total amount of all deposit or recommend any broker, broker- attention. That same month, Abbass Kashmir. “I was mentally and physi-
one of the available sweep vehicles you have at each bank in the Bank age firm, or any investment at all, tweeted a passionate video warning cally exhausted.”
below: Deposit Sweep program for pur- nor does he suggest that anyone will others to watch out for Ahmad and She was also mercilessly trolled
• Expanded Bank Deposit poses of calculating your FDIC cov- earn a profit when or if they pur- the scam. And in December 2019, by India’s right wing, like many inde-
Sweep that offers FDIC protection erage. Your account statement will chase stocks, bonds or any other in- Twitter users in India accused Singh pendent journalists are, and said to
• Standard Bank Deposit Sweep indicate your balance, details trans- vestments. All stocks or investment of faking her online persona. She re- herself, “If I don’t try something new
that offers FDIC protection action and interest relating to the vehicles mentioned are for illustra- sponded by claiming to be a civil ser- now, I never will.”
• A Money Market Fund that program. Your account statement tive purposes only. Mr Aslam is not vant with the Indian Police Service It was as if the scammers read
offers SIPC coverage will also indicate whether you are in an attorney, accountant, real estate and threatened to file complaints her mind.
The Cash Sweep Program fea- the Expanded Bank Deposit Sweep broker, stockbroker, investment ad- against her accusers. The first email arrived Nov. 14,
tures, characteristics, risks, costs and or Standard Bank Deposit Sweep. visor, or certified financial planner. Despite the accusations, the 2019, from an earnest sounding stu-
other considerations are unique, so “How Are My Deposit Ac- Mr Aslam does not have anything account under that name regularly dent — Melissa Reeve — inviting her
it is important that you regularly re- counts Insured by the FDIC?” for sale.) posted photos it claimed were of her. to a Harvard media seminar. She was
It is unclear whether the photos actu- then introduced, by email, to another
HARVARD FROM P23 Abbass, a spokeswoman for India’s ees by that name.) She seemed inti- ally depicted her or were stolen — re- student, Ahmad. When he said there
The Indian government was ruling political party, known by its mately familiar with Indian politics, verse image searches for them turned might be a journalism job available at
extremely sensitive about criticism acronym, the BJP, they had copied constantly commenting on the often up no results. Harvard, Razdan let her hopes soar.
of its move. It severed internet ser- email signatures from real Harvard raw divide between India’s majority “I thought it would be the open-
vice to Kashmir and preemptively employees and swiped official let- Hindus and minority Muslims and ‘Our No. 1’ ing to a new world,” she said.
cracked down on critics and poten- terhead from the university’s website. calling out personal connections that Razdan, now 44, was one of the The next thing Razdan knew,
tial critics, throwing more than 2,000 Around the same time, they the women targeted in the scam had most prominent female Indian jour- HARVARD, P28
Kashmiris in jail, including the re- opened a new Twitter account under with Kashmir.
gion’s top politicians. the name Seema Singh, who identi- Abbass did not notice the raun-
Sikander had written critical fied herself as a “coder” and claimed chy tweets from Singh’s account. Ex- Exchange Rates for Currency Notes*
pieces and posts about the govern- she was based in Bharat, another cited about making her first trip to
ment’s action in Kashmir. Some ana- name for India that is preferred by America, she focused on exchanging
lysts believe the scammers may have nationalists who see “India” as a co- emails and messages with Ahmad. Countries Buying Selling
gone after her because of her tren- lonial term. She sent sexually aggres- It was only after the scammers Rs. Rs.
chant views. sive messages, tagging Sikander and pushed for passport details and other
The next target was another fe- some of the other women targeted in personal information that Abbass
male journalist working at a promi- the scam. decided she should check directly USA 176.80 178.50
nent Indian publication, who spoke “You look so hot,” she said in with one of the Harvard administra- UK 236.00 238.50
with the Times on the condition that one tweet. “Can I join you in your tors included on the emails. S.Arabia 46.20 46.70
she was not identified. Suspicious shower?” said another. That administrator, Bailey Japan 1.41 1.44
about the scammer’s UAE phone Singh later updated her profile, Payne, a program coordinator in the Euro 197.50 199.50
number, she quickly broke off con- claiming to be a bisexual Deutsche office of Harvard’s vice provost for in- UAE 49.50 50.00
tact too. But the scammers did not Bank employee living in Frankfurt, ternational affairs, responded, saying
give up. By the time they communi- Germany. (A Deutsche Bank spokes- the official invitation that appeared (*January 2, 2022)
cated in November 2019 with Nighat man said the bank had no employ- to have been sent from her Harvard.
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