ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a case against four people accused of operating an illegal hawala-hundi network while claiming to transfer university tuition fees to the United Kingdom through official banking channels.
The FIA’s Currency Banking Circle in Islamabad registered case No. 42/2025 after completing an inquiry initiated in 2024. Authorities filed the case under Section 406 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Sections 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, as amended in 2020.
Meanwhile, the FIA said it arrested one suspect, identified as Muhammad Mubashir, son of Muhammad Shabbir.
Suspects Allegedly Received Rs5.62 Million for University Fees
According to the FIA, Hamza Faisal, Abid Hussain Butt, Uzair Qureshi and Muhammad Mubashir allegedly acted together to receive Rs5.62 million from complainant Asad Ali, a resident of Bahria Town, Rawalpindi.
The suspects allegedly told Ali they would transfer the money through legitimate banking channels to pay tuition fees for his son, Shabih-ul-Hasan, at Lancaster University in the UK.
However, investigators alleged that the suspects instead transferred the money through an illegal hawala-hundi network.
University Later Returned Funds to Unidentified Source
Subsequently, Lancaster University’s finance department sought information about the person who had deposited the tuition payment.
According to the FIA, the required information could not be provided. Consequently, the university returned the funds to an unidentified source in April 2024.
The FIA has now moved ahead with criminal proceedings following completion of its inquiry.
Furthermore, authorities have assigned the investigation to FIA Sub-Inspector Hassan, who will continue examining the alleged transactions and the roles of the suspects named in the case.
