Fund-raising for a Liver Transplant Operation: Experiences and Lessons Learnt

This is an extraordinary story (told in a chain of emails) of the seemingly impossible task of giving a new liver to a 5-month old girl to save her life, that started from Pakistan, spread to France, Germany and Sweden in Europe, US and Canada accross the Atlantic and ended in China. It is worth reading. It is inspiring, surprising and it contains lessons worth keeping.
It will amaze you to learn how a geographically dispersed group of students raised nearly $50'000 in just over a week. How they worked in synchronisation on almost a war-like footing. How the recepient family battled the visa procedures, overcame formidable bureaucratic delays and kept their hopes alive against despairingly dropping health of their 5-month old daughter. How a fake doctor robbed them of over $53'000 of their money. How the little girl was thrown from hospital to hospital even while she suffered from pneumonia. How a conscientious young chinese doctor helped save the little girl from the hands of inexperienced butchers. How the family managed to recover the looted money and were able to pay the medical bills. And how, by the grace of Allah, the girl finally received a new liver after a 13 and-a-half hour long operation.
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De : Waqqas Akhtar
À : APPEC, Education-France, Pakistan-France, Pak-Nordic, Funding Abroad, Pakistanische Gemeinde, Sweden-Pakistan
Envoyé le : Jeudi, 1 Octobre 2009, 0h34mn 49s

Call for donation to save the life of daughter (5-month old) of a fellow NUST Alumni in Pakistan.
http://www.appec.durabledevelopment.com/

From: Shahkar Kakakhail
APPEC Communication: Call for donation
Assalam-o-Alaikum,
APPEC (Association of Pakistanis to Promote Education & Cooperation) calls for donations for the urgent liver-transplant treatment of this baby girl. We personally know the person (Kashif) for whose daughter these donations are being collected, through colleagues of NUST, Pakistan. We also personally know the whole team (mentioned in the emails below) actively campaigning to collect the target amount in various parts of the world, by October 10.
As stated below, the girl has a near 100% chance of living a normal healthy life if the transplant is performed. Plus, as stated below, Kashif has promised to treat the donations as a loan and return these if his request for government assistance / reimbursement is approved. But since that will take a very long period of time, we, on our end need to act immediately and collectively.
Please see what you can do. We have already received a few donations in this regard (currently 630 euros) and we shall InshaAllah transfer all the donations collectively to Pakistan on Saturday, October 10.
Noted below are a few speedy and convenient options available to you.
Paypal: The instructions are as under (French options indicated in parenthesis):
1. Login to your PayPal account.
2. In the top-horizontal menu, click on the second option 'Send money' (paiement).
3. In the 'To' field, please add: treasurers.appec[at]gmail.com.
4. Write your amount.
5. Leave 'Purchase Payment' (Paiement d'un achat) as blank.
6. In 'Remittances to a friend or family' (Envoi d'argent entre proches) choose 'Other' (Autres) and click on 'continue'.
7. The rest is self-explanatory. Before finalizing the transaction, please use the given email feature. In the body, please write your name, city, amount and remarks.

Bank Transfer: The association's account details are as under:
Bank name: Societe Generale, France
Account title: APPEC
Bank code: 30003
Branch code: 00990
Account number: 00037270242
RIB key (optional): 47
International Bank Account Number (IBAN): FR76 3000 3009 9000 0372 7024 247
Bank Identifier Code (BIC): SOGEFRPP
Along with your transaction, please provide "your name, city, amount,any remarks" at treasurers.appec@gmail.com. Please forward to the city mailing lists. If one person could volunteer for the collection at the city level, it will become much easier. On our part, we will keep the donors posted on updates regarding the transplant operation and recovery. If you have any suggestions/comments in this regard, please share.
May Allah Pak accept our efforts. Ameen.
Kakulala.
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De : Shiraz Bashir
À : Alumni Association
Cc : Waqqas Akhtar ;
Envoyé le : Vendredi, 2 Octobre 2009, 15h56mn 35s
Objet: Re: [Urgent] [Donate to save the life of a Signalian's Child!] [Deadline 10th October, 2009]

Salam,
US$ 6,585 in 4 days! Super Cool!
Many people still have trouble sending money to Pakistan. Please advise them that they can have one of their family members, friend, colleague (who is living in Pakistan) to give money to our volunteers in Pakistan instead and they can pay them later...
Funds are trickling in at great pace. But we need a big push from all of you.
During this weekend if you can spend some time to send emails, call people personally.. it will help raise the desired amount.
Do emails and then call. Everyone is busy but you can always call 4-5 people.
Make a simple target that I will raise 500$ or 1000$ and then ask your close friends, family.
Here is what we have done so far...my aplogies if I have missed anything..
1. Wrote to Cowasjee so he can mention this appeal in 10/4 Sunday Column in Dawn.
2. Wrote to Dr. Adil Najam at Pakistaniat.com to publish message at Pakistaniat.com
3. Wrote to Leads of MSA/PSA at Princeton, Penstate, USA.
4. Asked Colleagues at GE.
5. Requested APPEC (Association of Pakistanis to Promote Education & Cooperation) in France to do fund raiser
6. Put the message on Facebook, Flickr, Linkedin
7. Sent to my political mentor in Pakistan.
8. Engaged Paskistan Students Federation (PSF) at Georgia Tech
9. Approached a very senior member of APNA (Pakistani Physicians of North America )
10. Requested Muslims Professional Association (MPA) and Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM), USA for announcing this on thier mailing list.
11. Wrote to popular bloggers to display message at:
http://deadpanthoughts.com/
http://teeth.com.pk/blog/
http://www.3quarksdaily.com/
http://www.razarumi.com/
http://waqqasakhtar.blogspot.com/
Thanks,
Shiraz Bashir, Tcc5
Co-Advisor to Alumni Association 
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On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 12:35 PM,
To: Pakistanische Gemeinde, Sweden-Pakistan,
Waqqas Akhtar wrote:

Salam,
Thank you to all those who have contributed generously for the life-saving liver-transplant operation of Kashif's 5-month old daughter. Today I have transfered the donations that I had received personally and those that we had received in APPEC's account from students in various cities of France, Germany and Sweden to the team of NUST Alumni organizing the donation drive. I wish to thank all those who have donated and encourage others for this cause. Through your timely effort, we have contributed 1670€ (almost Rs. 2 lac) to make a difference in young Asma's life.
(Receipt attached for info on exchange rate)
Jazak Allah and may Allah grant us more strength and fortitude to help those who need us. Ameen.
Wa'Salam,
Waqqas Akhtar
ParisTech, France.
+33 (0)6 30 00 60 43
P.S. Fadil, I have sent you a separate email with the Western Union retrieval code for this transaction.
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De : Fadil Aleem fadil.aleem[at]gmail.com
À : Waqqas Akhtar waqqas_akhtar[at]yahoo.com
Cc : Funding Abroad, APPEC, Education France, Pakistanische Gemeinde, Sweden-Pakistan, Pakistan France.
Envoyé le : Mer 14 Octobre 2009, 7 h 14 min 47 s
Objet : Re: Transfer of collected donations: Saving the life of daughter of a fellow NUST Alumni

Dear All,
Thanx a lot for your your gracious efforts. As always, it is nice to see prompt and generous help from this group of Pakistanis.
I will collect the funds soon and acknowledge.
If you ever need any help from College of Telecommunications (legacy Military College of Signals), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Fadil Aleem
Signalianz Alumni Association
Pakistan. 0345-4022058
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De : Fadil Aleem
À : Waqqas Akhtar
Envoyé le: Lun 12 Octobre 2009, 13 h 02 min 44 s
Objet: Re: Fundraising Update :: Important

Dear Sir, AoA.
I have talked to Maj. Kashif today. He is planning to go to Shanghai on 5th November. Total trip will be for 40 days.
The decision [from Ministry of Defence] for reimbursement of cost of operation will be here in 3-4 days and he is optimistic.
We have decided to park all funds in his account for the time being for easy tracking.
Breakdown for cost of operation is as follows (rough approx.):
1. Pre-op, op, post-op care (complete operation package): ~ USD 60,000
2. Return flights for 5 persons (including family, patient, donor): ~ USD 5,000
3. Payment to Donor: ~ USD 12,000
4. Apartment/Accommodation for all for 40 days: ~ USD 4,000
Total: ~ USD 81,000 (approx)
Maj. Kashif has personal funds amounting to around 22 lac (USD 36,500) acquired by selling maximum of his/family's property.
Mashallah, our fund raising has amounted to USD 53,000 so the total is close to USD 80,000.
We will transfer funds to his account and he will inform us about using them accordingly.
Funds raised: USD 53,073. Summary of funds:
With Sir Shiraz: USD 11,204 ($10,604 Pay Pal and $600 cash)
With Sir Mansur: USD 9,360 (sent from UK by bank transfer. To be received in 3-4 days)
With me (cash): USD 1,900
With me (citibank): USD 1,376
With me (To pick up from Western Union): USD 1,207
With Sir Zulqarnain: USD 240 (PKR 20,000)
Deposited directly in Askari Bank: USD 26,316
From Sir Waqqas: EUR 1,670 (From APPEC France & individual donors in France, Germany and Finland)
Sir Shiraz/Mansur/Zulqarnain, as soon as possible, please transfer the funds on your end to Sir Kashif's PKR account (Askari Bank).
Fadil Aleem.
NUST Alumni Asociation.
Pakistan.
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De: Kashif Bashir
Envoyé le: Sam 10 Octobre 2009, 0 h 04 min 50 s
Objet: A Word of Gratitude

Assalamu Alaikum,
Dear Fraternity,
This is in fact my first email to you and I'll take this opportunity to be as elaborate as possible, so dont mind if the email is a bit lengthy... These eight days in which you campaigned to save my daughter's life changed the meaning of many things for me i.e association, friendship and compassion. Today, if I am confident that my daughter's operation shall materialize in earliest possible time, it's only because of you all. I cant tell what kind of mixed feeling I experience whenever I see your emails. I cant explain what it feels being surrounded in such an excellent class of sincere people blessed with extraordinary sense of humanity and compassion. In this whole episode of my baby's disease I went through three phases.
The first phase started when Dr. Iftikhar Jan (Shifa International) said, "well I am sorry to say that your child's only chance of survival past 8-12 months of age is a liver transplant and in Pakistan 99.9% of cases do not opt for that. We'll try to make her death as painless as possible". This sentence was the rudest shock I had ever received in my life. I was in fact angered at the fact that only finances stand between my dying child and a healthy life. There I decided that come what may I have to provide this chance to the little girl no matter what it takes.
It was the second phase which transformed me from a completely non-serious person (as most of you personally know me) to a desperate fund raiser. I initiated a case [to Ministry of Defence] through proper channel which against my expectations got recommended from everyone up the ladder and is awaiting final approval. But I could not blame the incumbent procedural delays if time ran out, so I thought I might undertake operation at my end and then get re-imbursement when the case gets approved. The exact cost package from China (option 1 now due to my sensitive employment) is yet awaited but in the rough order of magnitude they told me around 80'000$. Till first october from my own resources I could only generate 24'000$ in form of liquid cash and in form of sellable property (which is yet on sale due to fall of property all over the country). So disappointment and frustration started creeping in my mind and I started questioning myself whether I am over ambitious in trying to manage inside the lucky 0.01%. The defence ministry's procedures were inadvertently lengthy, the time was limited and my nerves were being wrecked..
In such precarious times I could never in my wildest dreams imagine that there would a third phase of the same episode awaiting me round the corner, in which my brothers and sisters of Alumni fraternity would rise up to the occasion and stand by me in generating the funds and regenerating my hopes. Today I am extremely proud to be a member of Alumni of prestigious institutions in particular and Pakistani youth in general. You have not only provided a chance to my kid (by the will of Allah) to a prospective healthy life, but cemented our faith in the potential of this upcoming revolution known as "The enlightened Pakistani Youth". We have no reason to be disappointed, no matter what the prevailing circumstances when we know that the driving seat of this nation will eventually fall to an extraordinary generation of people like you all. I simply can't explain how the warmth of your feelings has rejuvenated and energized my spirits in undertaking a firm stand against this challenge. I am not exaggerating but this would be indeed the first story I shall narrate to Asma (my 5 months old child) that how her uncles and aunts united to save her, leaving aside their left, right or center (mine) political camps.
Now coming towards as to how we plan manifesting the fund raising into a transplant operation. I am now considering China as my first option due to difficulties and delays involved in getting permission for India and US, as I am on an extremely sensitive employment. A pakistani liver transplant surgeon (Doctor Xxx - brother of Sir Xxx) is coordinating with Shanghai First Teaching Hospital which specialize in Paediatric Transplants. I am foreseeing that we will InshAllah be able to materialize our visit by end october or start november. The cost of operation is not yet received in exact terms but it would be in the rough magnitude of 80'000$.
My case for reimbursement (which is very likely to be approved) is with COAS and as soon as I am reimbursed, I shall most humbly and gratefully return all amounts. With this, however I consider myself totally incapable to pay back your sincerity and warmth even in ten lifetimes. In the last I can only say that I can't explain my gratitude in words and this campaign could not have been a better success. Please pray that the execution of the operation also meets same success as this is our end goal.
Remembering you all in prayers.
Best Regards
Maj Kashif Basheer
[NUST Alumni]
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From: Fadil Aleem
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800
Subject: Update:: Maj. Kashif's Daughter's Operation

Dear All,
Maj. Kashif is in Shanghai, China right now with his family. His daughter's operation was supposed to be this week but is now postponed till next Monday/Tuesday as the baby's condition need more uplift and pre-op preparation.
He is requesting all of us to pray for a successful operation.
Fadil Aleem
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De : Ayyaz MAHMOOD PARACHA
À : Waqqas Akhtar
Envoyé le : Lun 18 Janvier 2010, 13 h 32 min 27 s

Hi APPEC members,
I hope all of you doing are great. Before going into the debate with other honorable members. I want to discuss one case with you guys and need your input. [ ... ]
P.S. Waqqas, have you got any update on Maj. Kashif daughter's operation. I hope and pray for her full recovery.
Regards
Ayyaz
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De : Waqqas Akhtar
À : APPEC
Cc : Funding Abroad, Education-France
Envoyé le : Lun 18 Janvier 2010, 17 h 41 min 38 s
Objet : Update on 9-month old Asma Kashif (Liver Transplant Operation)

Please see the two eamils copied below.
Jazak Allah for the efforts of all those who contributed to this cause.
Regards,
-- Waqqas.
http://www.appec.durabledevelopment.com/

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From: Shiraz Bashir
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 10:02:03 -0600
Local: Mon, Dec 7 2009 5:02 pm
Subject: 13.5 hours long operation of Maj Kashif's daughter is done and is Successful!

Salam,
Update: 13.5 hours long operation of Maj Kashif's daughter is done and is successful!
Thanks God! Next two weeks will be critical. Please pray for her speedy recovery.
Thanks
Shiraz
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From: Fadil Aleem
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:21:03 -0800
Subject: Update :: Maj. Kashif's Daughter

Dear All,
Asma Kashif is recovering very quickly. The family will be coming back in a week or so INSHALLAH.
Fadil Aleem
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From: Kashif Bashir 
To: Signalians-Café
Envoyé le: Mar 26 Janvier 2010, 11 h 34 min 33 s
Objet: Details of events in China - A story to rejoice which could have been otherwise

Assalam-o-Alaikum All,
I feel duty bound to apprise u all with the details of my entire episode at China. My story is too interesting and too shocking to be kept confined to myself. A brief chronolgy of events is given as under :-

a. Reached Shanghai alongwith Wife, sick child and donor on 4 Nov 09.
b. Defrauded & Robbed of 53000$ by same doctor who was coordinating on 5 Nov 09.
c. Expelled from Shanghai hospital on 12 Nov 09.
d. Reached Xi’an in pursuit of daughter’s transplant on 12 Nov 09.
e. Expelled from hospital at Xi’an on 17 Nov 09.
f. Recovered 47850$ (out of looted 53000$) from the cheat on 17 Nov 09 and went to Tianjin for transplant.
g. Baby underwent transplant on 7 Dec 09 at Tianjin First Central Hospital.
h. Recovered remaining 5150$ from the cheat on 21 Dec 09.
j. Baby declared fit to travel on 10 Jan 10.
k. Reached back Pakistan on 12 Jan 09 with healthy baby.

Shocked?
I know its too unbelievable but it happened but the story remained confined between me, Sir Zulqarnain, Sir Shiraz ,Sir Yasser and Fadil uptill now. Now I thought I must share the experience so that the word is spread and it may save any other Pakistani from falling in to the same trap. From here on I cut the suspense and share my conclusive email to the cheat which covers the entire episode with fair degree of comprehensiveness. I was reluctant in sharing this but I have been encouraged to do so.

MY EMAIL TO FRAUD DOCTOR COVERING WHOLE EPISODE

Mr. Xxx,
Let us cover what all happened between 4 Nov and till date. Background (extract of my previous email from back home - also shared with my Commander).
I reached Shanghai on night 4/5 Nov. On the morning of 5 Nov I was told by Doctor Xxx (of Pakistani nationality? and brother of Sir Xxx from a TCC course) that he has submitted 13'236 US Dollars to a hospital and if I don't submit another $17'000 to the same hospital within few minutes then the operation can not commence in a week's time. I was having all the money on me but I didn't have hard cash. He told me you are in a great fix and nothing can be done if u dont arrange hard cash. I received $17'000 hard cash on loan from an SPD Officer working in China on some project and gave that to doctor Xxx. Simultaneously, I transacted 13'326$ to Dr Xxx which he claimed he had submitted with the hospital. He shifted the baby alongwith me and my wife to a very ordinary hospital and told the donor to stay in hotel till last two nights before operation. Meanwhile he asked me to submit another 23'000$ in his account so that I shud not face any emergency with regards to operation. After I did that, the total transactions in his account were 53'000$, just on the trust as he is the brother of an Alumni of NUST. When we were admitted, it was as if they had totally forgotten the transplant thing and the baby was under supportive care at a hospital similar to our "Myo hasptal". I could take this for only one week and started pushing the chinese coordinator (Miss Alisa Qin) which doctor Xxx had placed for my facilitation (which he claimed was the assistant of Dr. Zhong - the transplant surgeon, but as I later found out, actually, was just a medical facilitator not even working at the hospital).
She arranged my meeting with Dr. Zhong. He simply came and said I can't undertake this operation in Shanghai, because it is illegal since this hospital is not approved to operate on foreign patients. Dr. Xxx said, "No problem. If not Shanghai then we'll undertake this operation in Xian". He claimed to work in that hospital as evident from his business card at the end of his mail which follows my this email. As I had no other option and all of my money was in his bank account so I agreed. We went to Xian on 12 Nov and were immediately admitted in the hospital. I was disappointed by seeing Xian it was much less developed and was similar to Gilgit and Skardu region (in Pakistan) but the hospital was okay. I forgot to tell u that he said total expenditure on transplant would be 60'000$. I asked him a million times would there be a legal issue in your hospital he said he can bet his a** on it that there would be no legal issue.We were happy when doctor Xxx told us that the operation date is 22 Nov and it is final.
Here, one thing bothered us that it appeared as if Dr. Xxx doesn't practice in the hospital. He was not well respected in the nurses and no one gave him any acquaintance looks, I mean Doctors etc. I was particularly alarmed when a young chinese doctor, who used to wake me up daily, started coming in at around 2300 hrs and would say in broken english, "Here, Operation, very risky, not performed, before." I didn't pay any heed until on 16 Nov he finally alarmed an Ethics Committee, who again asked to leave the hospital as it was illegal. The surgeon who had to perform the operation told me that I cannot perform the operation due to legality issues but I can help u in arranging it at Tianjin (where it is allowed) and is the best liver transplant center.
Doctor Xxx used to tell me that this is the worst transplant center with 30% survival rate and heavy mafia activity. In reality, I came to know from stats that the hospital at Xian where he coordinated my baby's operation had never conducted even a single paediatric liver transplant and that was what the conscientious young chinese doctor was trying to tell me but I didn't understand. U can well imagine my plight as I had laid blind trust in Xxx, totally played in his hands and was artistically deceived. I asked Xxx that I have two options - one to go back and the other to arrange at Tianjin. I asked him to return the money, so that I can go to Tianjin. He said that at Shanghai your 11000$ have been deducted because you were insolent to the surgeon. I told him, "Bull****! if my money is not returned in full I am going to the embassy to expose this all. I have all documentary proofs, u have sent me official invitation and expected expenditure on the signed letter heads of Hospitals, moreover I transacted all money in ur account. With remaining 49000$ I cannot undertake transplant but I can fight a legal battle in Beijing to bust your a** - to include your associates and the doctors at Shanghai."
He got the joke as I cleared the matter in very definte terms and I meant it. He went to Tianjin and arranged our admission through same persons whom he always dubbed mafia goons. And I got all the money refunded from him except $5150  for which he gave me fake bills. Imagine, at first he told me 11000$ and when I twisted his arm he released all money except $5150 for which he gives explanations in his email in which he reminds me of his excellent favors of getting me a rebate at Tianjin and high class consultancy (please read his email thoroughly, it is very interesting - full of crocodile tears).
In this predicament I was facing pressure from all corners, the health of my child had deteriorated a lot, its very hard to digest when u feel cheated and my family had imagined that I am running here and there without any reason and probably the baby has no cure (God Forbid). My family was literally pleading me to return to Pakistan. I was myself very disappointed but u know my nature, I don't except a failure specially if that was engineered. I went to Tianjin taking a leap of faith on Allah's will and it turned out well. Now if we try to analyse what was done to me through a flash back ...
Doctor Xxx (the fraudster) knew right from the outset that except for Tianjin, no transplant center in China is allowed to entertain foreigners. He put me through this ordeal just to get a cut of 11000$, which he couldn't in the end because I am part of a very powerful organization. With this however, he managed to dent our will, disappoint our families, irritate donor and his family and worst of all drew a pint of blood from my sick baby (who also suffered pneumonia due to extreme weather shifts) and inserted hundreds of dreadful intravenous injections to no avail. This is professional dishonesty at its max with a murderous appetite for money. Now just see him shedding crocodile tears in his email and trying to pamper me through rotten explanations. I am just giving this in your notice so that u must be in knowledge that what are the circumstances in which I was operating and what kind of vultures are on the loose to drink from the blood of even a critically sick child.

Accountability Time Mr. Xxx,
Let's get down to some serious business and accountability and lets set aside the trash of courtasies and politeness. I placed blind trust in u and I was right in doing so, as anyone who is merely a human being could not deceive me in the situation in which I was entrapped at that time. My whole ordeal was indeed an awakening and a revelation towards the lowest limits of ethics and morality to which a human can go. For your behavior I have coined a slogan, "Professional dishonesty at its max". From hereon I am done with personal assaults and will get down to the actual stuff. You robbed me off  total of around 48'000 CNY ($7058), from which 36'000 CNY were direct and 12'000 CNY were expended on my livelihood in those 13 days of hell which I spent with u. There can only be three possibilities if we try to make sense of what all happened to us between 4 Nov to 17 Nov '09 :-

Possibility 1 . You thought of entering new frontiers, that is lucrative business (big game) of liver transplant coordination - at my expense. You failed miserably due to inexperience, incapability and dishonesty. You had no access to surgeons at Tianjin so u thought opening a new franchise of your own (in connivance with Miss Alisa of overseas medical services) at Shaghai or Xian. Being unsuspecting I was an excellent training ground for u.
Possibility 2 . Right at the outset you had to take us to Xian for transplant and taking us to Shanghai was merely a decoy to raise expenditure and get a cut of 15000$ or more. Shanghai was just a fake activity and Xian arrangements busted due to stringent laws.
Possibility 3 . You never contemplated transplant at all and were interested in attriting and bleeding our resources by getting max or may be complete cut of our money before we finally decide to return to Pakistan as u probably thought baby may not survive this all (God Forbid).

In all probabilities u found out that it would be extremely hard to digest all money so u along with ur associates settled for minimum i.e 5150$. Now I would like to share a few findings with u :-
1. Right after reaching Tianjin I got all documents given by you (either physically or through your email id) verified from concerned quarters.
2. The invitation letter u despatched me was found out to be fake by Consulate at Shanghai.
3. All the bills of Shanghai Children Hospital and First Peoples Hospital (you didnt even bother to change the scanned blank bill which u used as background for both bills of First Peoples Hospital) have been found out to be fake by Shanghai Consulate.
4. The whole matter is in knowledge of DA Pakistan Embassy Beijing (he has closely monitored all our moves since we landed at Shanghai, went to Xian and subsequently reached Tianjin) and Consul General Shanghai, however I have told them not to take any action, till I give a go ahead.
5. I've informed my headquarter back home and the whole matter is a phone call away from Ministry of State Security (MSS) China.

Bundles of Lies: During the course of our interaction I found out the u r in habit of lying a lot. Some of your lies are quoted as under:-
Lie - 1 : Your arrangements in Shanghai are complete. [Bull!]
Lie - 2 : Your baby's operation will be carried out in First Teaching Hospital affiliated with Fudong University. [That never happened. It was never even planned at Shanghai].
Lie - 3 : I personally know Dr. Zhong. [He never knew that u even exist].
Lie - 4 : Alisa is Assistant of Dr. Zhong. [She is an employee of overseas medical services Shanghai].
Lie - 5 : Two operation theaters have been allocated for the dates of 10-11 Nov, but will be given to someone else if $30'000 are not given to you immediately.
Lie - 6 : Baby shall be admitted in Xinhua Hospital. [She was admitted in Shanghai Children Hospital].
Lie - 7 : I talked to health minister and communist party leader to get you people admitted. [You dont have authority to talk to their peons even].
Lie - 8 : Dr. Zhu of Tianjin hospital called me and said, "dont spoil my patients". [He doesn't know you and he doesn't have time for this].
Lie - 9 : I ll not let the operation stop due to legal issues at Shanghai.
Lie - 10: Xian is a top class liver transplant facility. [Right! Like u r a top class liver transplant surgeon and actress Meera is a Virgin].
Lie - 11: There is a Sudani awaiting liver transplant at Xian. [There were no foreigners there apart from us].
Lie - 12: Tianjin First Central Hospital has success rate of only 30%.
Lie - 13: 100000 CNY out of 115600 shall be returned from Shanghai. [Only 80000 were returned].
Lie - 15: There is no chance of a legal intervention at Xian. [U vanished when the legal intervention happened].
Lie - 16: I am a liver transplant surgeon at Xian. [There is only one Dr. Xxx in Xian, as per record he works in physiology and pathophysiology department].
Lie - 17: I have seen Dr. Zhu doing operation. [I doubt u ever saw a transplant operation - may be in dreams].
Lie - 18: I have assisted 22 Paediatric Liver transplants at Xian. [There wasnt even a single such operation performed].
Lie - 19: Dr. Zhong had seen the baby's reports before my coming from Pakistan. [Actually, he never saw any reports and was surprised at knowing about Kasai procedure (half of the reports which I sent you contained operation notes of Kasai procedure)].
Lie - 20: Shanghai Children Hospital is a top class hospital. [Actually, it was hospital for the under privilleged children].
Lie - 21: 20000 CNY have been spent on our air tickets from Shanghai to Xian and Xian to Tianjin .[Ticket from Shanghai to Xian was 450 CNY, for 5 persons it made 2250 CNY and ticket from Xian to Tianjin was 500 CNY, for 5 persons it made 2500 CNY - Total 4750 CNY. It is pertinent to mention that even our air tickets from Isb to Shanghai via Dubai costed us just 18000 CNY].
Lie - 22: The operation at Xian will be conducted on 22 Nov. [It was a Sunday].
Lie - 23: The card (which you gave me at Tianjin) has all the money. [It had only 2.75 CNY].
Lie - 24: Your memberships have been cancelled. [You never had any].
Lie - 25: Cadaveric liver transplant is being arranged on split technique for my daughter at Xian. [No transplant took place at Xian].
Lie - 26: Blood and other tests done at Shanghai shall be used at Xian. [Baby went through even a more fierce torture at Xian].
Lie - 27: I will operate the donor myself. [Even today the donor's pubic hair stand with fear when he imagines u with scisssors and scalpol doing honors on him].

My Response and Closure of Case With You:
I know u had been content with the way our deal closed on 18 Nov as I gave u a signed closure deed on a plain paper that there's nothing outstanding. Unfortunately for u it didnt, remember when I gave that undertaking on 18 Nov, all my money was in ur account. Your bank account statement for the month of Nov and of course ur email account will tell a lot of tales and u can run away from everything but your account statements which will be scrutinized in the event of legal complaint by me. U released a part of the money on 19 Nov, so I was forced to give that undertaking on 18th in order to get the money released so that I am able to proceed with operation. Mr. Khawar and the DA are in knowledge of this. So in case of a litigation that undertaking is as useless as a toilet paper, because it was a result of a black mail. To cut the story short, I have two proposals for u and u r free to choose any:-
Option 1: U ve 24 hours to settle all this mess. Time now is 0900 hours, By 1500 hours tommorow (I am giving you an allowance of 6 hours to cater for mail receipt and mail opening time) I want you here at Tianjin with 5150$ in cash (I am forgiving u 1908 $). No question will be asked and no humiliation will be subjected on u and I will give u indemnity on patent stamp papers,not the scanned ones. My address is Tianjin First Central Hospital and phone number is 15122031954. After this our ways shall be formally parted and I ll forget all.
OR
Option 2 . I ll tell DA and my headquarters to lodge a two pronged legal suite; an FIR of fraudulent misappropriation on account of farce medical coordination supported by a simultaneous investigation instituted by MSS (Ministry of State Security) China on request of my organization. The minimum you shall inshAllah face if you opt for this, would be deportation from China and permanent black listing. This is what embassy people have told me. When you are deported to Pakistan, the playing field between you and me would not be level and you can understand that there inshAllah you would find me on a vantage location. I ll not grant any time extensions, neither I shall entertain any explanations and no negotiation attempts at all (If I am approached by anyone or you on telephone for pardoning I shall take it as a personal insult and will institute option 2 without giving any time) . I know this will dent u financially but u asked for it and why should we be paying for your misdeeds and incapabilities.
Secondly, I want to teach u a lesson so that u dont repeat it with any other troubled Pakistani again. If u dont respond this email and dont intimate ur choice of option than I ll consider it option 2. If u r considering option 1, call on my no 15122031954 (just to notify that u r coming; I reiterate : no negotiation or explanation) or sms me before coming so that I dont accidentally initiate option 2. During the complete execution of option 1, I shall prefer minimum contact time (just to complete handing over of money by you and reciprocal return of indemnity on stamp paper by me), no talking, no crocodile tears or hypocratic verbosities and no apologizes, just hard core business closure.
Remember, last time u met me, I was a Father of a very sick child who could be taken for a great ride by any sicko; Now u r dealing with a relentless intelligence officer who knows no bounds, no ethics, no morals and no mercy when it comes to nailing and framing an absconder.

The email did the wonder and he remitted all the looted money before the given deadline.
Kashif Bashir Khan
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From: Waqqas Akhtar
To: Kashif Bashir

Wow! That was an epic struggle.
I am glad that your daughter is in good health.
I appreciate you taking that fraudster to task.
I wish to ask you to let me put it up on the APPEC (Association of Pakistanis for Promotion of Education & Cooperation) website for educating other Pakistanis.
Regards,
-- Waqqas.
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De : Kashif Bashir
À : Waqqas Akhtar
Envoyé le : Mar 26 Janvier 2010, 14 h 18 min 38 s
Objet : Details of events in China - A story to rejoice which could have been otherwise.

AoA Waqqas,
U may post the story anywhere u like as i believe it will help in saving any other troubled person like me.
Regards
Kashif Basheer.

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De: Muhammad Muzzamil Luqman (m.muzzamil.luqman[at]gmail.com)
À: Education-France@yahoogroups.com
Envoyé le: Ven 19 mars 2010, 12 h 33 min 21 s
Objet: Call for donations (Urgent: Help a suffering Pakistani teacher for liver transplant)

Assalamu alaikum everyone,
APPEC (Association of Pakistanis for Promotion of Education and Cooperation) is a registered association in France under the French law of 1901. It is a non-profit organization to foster philanthropy and volunteerism for the development and growth of socio-economic sector of Pakistan. The structure and functioning of APPEC are detailed on our website:
http://www.appec.durabledevelopment.com
Alhamdulilah, with combined efforts of the members who respond to APPEC calls for donations, the association in a short span of time has successfully completed a number of projects which include fund raising for IDPs, donation campaigns for earthquake victims, helping individuals for medical expenses and providing financial assistances to the needy.
A worth mentioning success story of APPEC's role in donation campaign for liver transplant is of baby Asma:
http://waqqasakhtar.blogspot.com/2010/01/fund-raising-for-liver-transplant.html

Once again we seek your help and generosity for a project which require an immediate attention.
Project: Liver Transplant of Mr. Sajjad Hussain (Primary school teacher in Azad Kashmir Pakistan and father to three young children (age<9 years)) The project details can be found on our website http://www.durabledevelopment.com/appec/2010/03/08/donationcampaign-livertransplant-sajjadhussain-kashimir/ A total of approx. €3000 has been targeted by APPEC for this project insha'Allah, (total liver transplant cost is 20 lacs to 40 lacs PKR). A portion of the required funds has already been arranged. We request you to please respond on real urgent basis for achieving the target ASAP. This call is not to save 1 person but to save a complete family dependent on this person. We spend 1,5,10 euros for fun very easily without even thinking and the joy hardly lasts a couple of minutes. However, this small contribution for saving someone's life will give you everlasting joy in addition to unlimited sawab from Allah. You can donate via cheque, bank transfer or online through PayPal. The bank and paypal accounts along with detailed procedure for transferring your donations can be found on APPEC's website under 'Rules and Regulations' at: http://www.durabledevelopment.com/appec/rules-regulations/ Once you have made the transaction, please do not forget to provide "your name, city, amount and remarks" to treasurers.appec[at]gmail.com. In case you have any queries or you require further information, please feel free to drop an email. Jazak'Allah for your contributions and thanks a lot for your efforts in spreading these words to your contacts, blogs, social networks and mailing groups.
Maa'assalama,
Muzzamil
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De: Kashif Bashir (soulsrebellious[at]yahoo.com)
À: NUST Alumni
Envoyé le: Dim 21 mars 2010, 7 h 45 min 02 s
Objet: Re: Call for donations (Urgent: Help a Pakistani teacher for liver transplant)

AoA Waqqas,
Please guide the individual regarding following important information about liver transplant :-
Where is he planning to get the liver transplant? This is very important as different destinations have different implications.
(1) In India the cost is around USD 40-50'000, but the donor has to be only from the first relation. They validate it from DNA test.
(2) Non-related donors are only permitted in China and Singapore, however, cost in Singapore is around USD 130'000.
(3) At all these destinations there is a great risk of falling prey to coordination mafia (as happened in my case), where people promise transplant at cheaper rates and rob the patient of all their holdings. I caution this phenomenon is too much pronounced in India and China.
(4) Sheikh Zaid Hospital has recently announced their liver transplant program but I am not sure whether an actual transplant has been performed as yet or not. In that case also, the program could be termed as experimental and at least first 100 operations would have very meager success rates.
(5) In China, only one hospital (Tianjin First Central Hospital) is permitted to receive foreign patients; there cost of Living Donor Liver Transplant (small piece of living donor) is 55000 - 60000 $ and cost of Dead Donor Liver Transplant (complete liver of dead donor) is 150000 $. In case of arranging non-related donor due to matching issues or some health problems in related donors, a donor can be arranged from lahore for Rs 900000 to Rs 1100000 depending upon blood group (whether common or rare).
(6) In India, there are two reputed hospital; Shri Ganga Raam Hospital,Delhi(Dr. AS Soin Singh) and Apolo Hospital, Delhi (Dr. Subhash Chandar) who perform liver transplant of patients with only related donor. Dr. Soin takes 50000$ and Dr. Subhash takes 60000$. But they never entertain non-related donor whatsoever. www.livertransplantindia.com is the website where coordination / contact info of Dr. AS Soin is available. Dr. Subhash can be contacted from Apolo Hospital's official website. Coordinating through any other agent for cheaper rates can be too dangerous. Dr Soin has also established an office in G 10 Islamabad for coordination and visa assistance of Pak patients, where a Lady Doctor named DinarMehmood coordinates.
(7) For coordination in China Tianjin First Central Hospital has an official Pakistani coordinator named as Dr. Waqqas who has patronage of Pak Embassy also. His no is 008613752697254 and 00923334649325. He is the only reasonable person in this business and I declare with full responsibility that rest all Pakistanis involved in liver transplant coordination at China are bloody frauds. He can arrange donor also from Lahore @ Rs 900'000 - 1100'000 through an agent named as Zulfiqar Ali (I can arrange his no also if the individual desires). In Tianjin also there are two professors who perform transplant, one is Prof Zhu Zhejin and the other is Prof Shen, out of the two Prof Zhu is better as a person as well as in terms of success rates.
(8) Last word of advice, there is no such thing as a cheaper transplant in the world (I learnt it the hard way), as it is a very difficult and risky procedure in which two lives are placed in the harms way at the mercy of Transplant team. I agree one feels desperate due to meager resources and seeks alternatives but even if the life of patient has less hope otherwise, the life of donor will be unduly risked if the procedure is sought from some less experienced / reputed transplant centers and quake type transplant surgeons.
(9) I am copying exact pre transplant requirements for donor as well as patient . This info is particularly useful as it is imperative that matching is performed before departure because it is not possible to arrange donor in other country, if the donor taken along is rejected by the hospital (this incidence is very common as hospitals never take risks). Donor has to be finalized before departure. Also, if the patient's condition is complicated beyond certain stage,e.g his cirrhosis has turned in to cancer or spread out side liver, the hospital does not undertake the operation.

LDLT (SPLIT LIVER LIVING DONOR TRANSPLANT):
For this patient has to bring donor with him/her.
At present the cost in Hospital for living donor liver transplant is USD 55'000 to 60'000 depending on age and complexity, for both surgery and stay of both donor and patient in one room, medication, tests, nursing, service charges, translator fee, services etc.
Please note that it does not include lodging and meals, special nurses charges, stay of extra attendants outside or complications of patient and donor etc.

SELECTION OF DONOR:
- The donor's weight and height should be same or more than the Patient. With age ranging from 24 to 55, with good general body condition and health.

TESTS OF DONOR:
- Blood Tests
- Blood Group, CBC, HBV, HCV, HIV, HAV, CEA, LFT's, Kidney Profile.
- ABDOMINAL ULTRASOUND to rule out Fatty liver and any other abnormal finding in Liver and peripheral organs.
- BIPHASIC CONTRAST ENABLED CT-Scan of Liver. To see the percentage or sizes of both right and Left lobes of liver. Also to see the bifurcation of the bile ducts and Portal vein and Artery.
- As usually right lobe of the liver is taken so its very Important to check the lobes sizes.
Please ensure this information reaches the patient and his family before they make any decision, as it involves risk to human lives.

Thanks.
Kashif Basheer Khan
00-92-3005282077

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De : Fadil Aleem {fadil.aleem[at]gmail.com}
À : Waqqas Akhtar {waqqas_akhtar[at]yahoo.com}
Cc : APPEC {appec[at]googlegroups.com};
Envoyé le : Jeu 8 avril 2010, 9h 23min 10s
Objet : Re: APPEC Final Call -- Transfer of donations from Signalians Alumni to APPEC

Dear Sir Waqqas,
Maj. Kashif is leaving for Africa tonight (UN Mission) and will be gone for a year. For the initial one month he will have no internet and limited phone connectivity. I discussed this case with him at length and he was re-emphasizing some facts which he had already mentioned in his initial mails.
I have compiled his suggestions in the attached word document and pasting here too. Please read it and then talk to the patient. APPEC and others) should also reconsider the fund-raising target. Euro 30,000 cost is unrealistic. Maj. Kashif cautions not to go for total cost expectations of less than USD 80,000.

For Operation in China (In case there is no donor in the family)
Coordination:
· In China, foreigners are allowed to be operated ONLY in First Central Hospital in Tanjin
· They are not allowed at all in any other hospital or any other city
· Fake Agents will offer to broker deals at other hospitals/cities but it is just a fraud. DO NOT waste precious time in trying for other places.
· There are more than 130 organ transplant centers in China. But the Govt., in order to keep a check on illegal organ trade, has deemed transplant of foreigners in other centers illegal. In Shanghai, there are 3-4 major hospitals with departments for organ transplant. In comparison, First Central Hospital in Tanjin is wholly dedicated to organ transplant.
· First Central Hospital in Tanjin is a dedicated organ transplant center in China. State Ministers and VIPs are also treated there. The building has 24 floors dedicated for organ transplants. Success rate is good.
· The only legal/proper/safe way for coordination at First Central Hospital in Tanjin is through the Pakistany Embassy. Dr. Waqas is the official coordinator (contact details shared in earlier mail by Maj. Kashif). He is a very helpful and nice person. Giving reference of Maj. Kashif is recommended as he was regularly in touch with him for more than 2 months.
Payment:
· DO NOT pay any agent/coordinator BEFORE entering China.
· Only the First Central Hospital in Tanjin will take payment from you.
· The hospital will first conduct tests for matching the donor. They will ask for USD 5,000 upfront for the complete tests (not all of the amount will always be actually used). If this step is not cleared, they will reject transplant at that stage and send you home. If it is cleared, they will offer you a ‘package’ deal for the whole transplant operation and post operative care. It will come out to be close to USD 60,000. Of you negotiate on compassionate grounds; they will finally lower it to USD 55,000. But it is necessary to try to negotiate.
Doctors:
· First Central Hospital in Tanjin has two main doctors who perform transplants:
· Dr. Shen – he is not an honest person. His success rate low – His agents offer transplant for only USD 45,000 but afterwards add allied costs that take the total to USD 75,000
· Dr. Zhu (pronounced ‘Choo’) - President of hospital. Extremely compassionate person - coordinates only through Dr. Waqas (Pakistani Embassy). Very high success rate . Asks for USD 60,000. This is the only available/recommended option.
For Operation in India (In case there is a donor in the family)
Shri Gangaram Hospital – Delhi
· Dr. A.S. Soin performs liver transplants
· They have a physical office in Islamabad (G-9 or G-10)
· The Pakistani coordinator in that office Dr. Dinar Mehmood is the point of contact
· If all of those to travel have their passports ready, Dr. Dinar takes USD 1,500 fee to arrange letter for visa.
· Visa is issued in 1 day if that letter is available (Medical Tourism Section, Indian Embassy).
Apollo Hospital
· Very popular and has good success rate
· No physical coordinator is available
· Coordination has to be done through internet
· Beware of fake agents

Costs
Item: Operation package
· Cost: USD 60,000
· Comments: Negotiate directly with Hospital Authorities, they have a cushion to reduce it to USD 55,000 on compassionate grounds!
Item: Donor
· Cost: USD 11,000
· Comments: Rate varies with blood group. Range: PKR 7.5 lac to PKR 11 lac
Item: Air tickets
· Cost: USD 3,500
· Comments: USD 1,100 per person from Paksitan. Minimum 3 persons: Patient, Donor, Attendant (Add 2 attendants if patient is too sick)
Item: Lodging
· Cost: USD 2,500
· Comments: 2 complete months. Cost for a nice 2 bedroom apartment (USD 2,000 + Utility Bills etc.) 3 Star hotel to cost USD 1,500. Hospital helps to arrange (recommend) Hotel and Apartment
Item: Misc.
· Cost: USD 2,000
· Comments: Cooking Utensils, Perishable Food (Tinned food to be taken from Pakistan), Phone Cards, Taxis
Item: Medicines after operation
· Cost: USD 2,000
· Comments: Have to buy from China before coming back
Total
· USD 81,000
· Range: USD 78,000 to USD 81,000. Target USD 80,000, not less!
Monthly Cost After Operation
· PKR 50,000
· 1 year For tests and medicines

Pros and Cons
China:
Pros:
· You are allowed to bring a donor from home country
· Excellent facilities/expertise for transplant (Tainjin - First Central Hospital)
· Dedicated Transplant complex with 24 floors for just organ transplants (Tainjin - First Central Hospital)
Cons:
· Foreigners allowed in only 1 hospital (Tainjin - First Central Hospital)
· Language barrier. Difficult to buy even bread etc.
· Many fake agents in Pakistan and China
· Fees to be paid in hard cash only.
India:
Pros:
· No language barrier
· Excellent success rate
· Option of 2 leading hospitals (Shri Ganga Ram – Delhi and Apollo)
· Shri Ganga Ram has physical office in Islamabad for coordination – no risk of fraud
· Visa issued in 1 day (after Hospital provided invitation letter at USD 1,500 cost)
Cons:
· You cannot bring a paid donor from your home country (only relative is allowed)
· Fake ‘coordinators’ for Apollo Hospital (fake agents)


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APPEC Donation Campaign Webpage

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