The Federal Investigation Agency has registered a case against four people accused of operating an illegal hawala-hundi network under the cover of transferring university tuition fees to the United Kingdom.
The FIA’s Currency Banking Circle in Islamabad registered the case after completing an inquiry launched in 2024.
The case has been registered under Section 406 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Sections 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, as amended in 2020.
The agency said it has arrested one of the suspects, Muhammad Mubashir, son of Muhammad Shabbir.
According to the FIA, the suspects, Hamza Faisal, Abid Hussain Butt, Uzair Qureshi and Muhammad Mubashir, allegedly received Rs5.62 million from complainant Asad Ali, a resident of Bahria Town, Rawalpindi.
The money was allegedly collected on the pretext of paying the tuition fee of Ali’s son, Shabih-ul-Hasan, at Lancaster University in the UK through official banking channels.
However, the FIA investigation found that the amount was allegedly transferred through an illegal hawala-hundi network instead of the authorised banking system.
The university’s finance department later asked for details of the person who had deposited the fee.
According to the FIA, the suspects failed to provide the required information, after which the university returned the funds to an unidentified source in April 2024.
The investigation has been assigned to FIA Sub-Inspector Hassan, while further proceedings are underway.
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