The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Islamabad Zone has booked four suspects for allegedly using a UK university fee payment as a cover to transfer Rs5.62 million through an illegal hawala-hundi network, arresting one of them.
UK University fee used as cover for hawala-hundi transfer; FIA books four, arrests one
ISLAMABAD, Sep 02 (APP):The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Islamabad Zone has booked four suspects for allegedly using a UK university fee payment as a cover to transfer Rs5.62 million through an illegal hawala-hundi network, arresting one of them.
An FIA official told APP on Wednesday that the Commercial Banking Circle (CBC) Islamabad registered case No. 42/2025 after completing inquiry No. 75/2024 and arrested accused Muhammad Mubashir son of Muhammad Shabbir.
The case was registered against Hamza Faisal, Abid Hussain Butt, Uzair Qureshi and Muhammad Mubashir under Section 406 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), read with Sections 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), 1947, as amended in 2020.
According to the investigation, the suspects allegedly received Rs5.62 million from complainant Asad Ali son of Manzoor Hussain, a resident of Bahria Town, Rawalpindi, on the pretext of sending the university fee of his son, Shabeeh-ul-Hassan, to Lancaster University in the United Kingdom through a banking channel.
The investigation found that instead of using the formal banking channel, the money was allegedly transferred through an illegal hawala-hundi network.
The matter came to light when Lancaster University’s Finance Department sought information about the person who had deposited the amount, but no details could be found. The university subsequently returned the money to an unknown source in April 2024.
The investigation of the case has been assigned to Sub-Inspector Hassan.
FIA Islamabad Zone reiterated that action would continue against those involved in hawala-hundi networks and illegal financial transactions, and such elements would be brought to justice.
