FIA nabs suspect involved in illicit prize bond business

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday arrested a man for alleged illicit prize bonds trade, ARY News reported.

The suspect, identified as Sajid Katya, submitted around 5,408 claims of prize money on winning prize bonds, as per FIA spokesperson.

The submitted winning prize bonds were worth Rs240 million, he added.

According to the FIA spokesperson, the suspect carried out transactions worth more than Rs1 billion from 16 different bank accounts and has been accused of converting black money into white money.

He was also suspected of submitting claims on behalf of non-filers.

The investigating agency spokesperson went on to add that the suspect was working as a sales manager in a local market.

Read more: FIA arrests seven human traffickers, hawala hundi operators

Days earlier, FIA commercial banking circle Karachi arrested a three-member gang involved in illegal Hawala Hundi business.

On March 11, the FIA spokesperson stated that the raid was carried out under the supervision of the Deputy Director Commercial Banking Circle at Gulshan-e-Iqbal area where the FIA officials seized a substantial amount of cash – including $900, Rs1,730,000 – along with mobile phones from the accused identified as Munawar Hussain, Muhammad Zubair, and Muhammad Asif.

In another raid on March 17, the investing agency claimed to have arrested a total of seven allegedly involved in human trafficking and operating illegal money exchange businesses.

The FIA spokesperson said that the suspects were arrested from different cities across the country including Multan, DG Khan, and Bahawalpur.

As per the FIA spokesperson, the accused were in possession of a substantial amount of local currency, exceeding Rs 1 million in cash, while a significant sum of foreign currency, amounting to 4562 Saudi Riyals was also seized from the apprehended individuals.