A number of Pakistani cricketers, including former skipper Babar Azam, wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan and pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi, are at the risk of losing millions of rupees after falling victim to a Ponzi scheme, PTI reported on Thursday (January 22).

According to the report, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken note of the matter and is understood to be looking into the financial scam.

Around a dozen current players -- also including Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and others -- had allegedly invested large sums with a Pakistani businessman who has now fled the country, a source told the news agency.

"Initially the businessman who is well known to the players and has also been involved in sponsoring some franchises in the Pakistan Super League made profit payments to the players for the first few months but then stopped the profit payments,” the source said.

“When the affected players approached him, the businessman reportedly claimed that he had incurred heavy losses, including their investments as well as his own, and was unable to return the money,” added the source.

"After that he stopped answering calls and messages and left the country," the source further said.

As per the source, many of the players had invested not only their personal savings but also money belonging to relatives and close associates.

"It was basically a Ponzi scheme which went bad. Now these players face the prospect of losing out on millions of rupees," he said.

The total amount invested by the cricketers and their associates could exceed one billion rupees, the source stated.

(With PTI Inputs)