FAISALABAD: A total of 149 suspects arrested from the residence of former Fesco chairman Malik Tahseen Awan during a joint raid by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and an intelligence agency were produced before the court on Wednesday.
The court approved five-day physical remand of the accused and ordered their reappearance on July 14.
Meanwhile, the NCCIA has added the name of prime suspect Tahseen to the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL), preventing him from fleeing the country. Tahseen had gone into hiding during the raid on his Dera located on the Sangla Hill Road, Shahkot, Faisalabad.
According to the NCCIA, seven FIRs have been registered in connection with the Ponzi scheme and online investment scam. Five of the complainants are residents of Faisalabad, one belongs to Toba Tek Singh, and another is from Chiniot. These complainants allege that the accused defrauded them of Rs6.129 million by luring them into online investment schemes and task-based YouTube subscription offers.
The cases have been registered under relevant sections of the Peca Act 2016 (Sections 13, 14, and 16) and the Pakistan Penal Code (Sections 109, 419, and 420). According to the FIRs, the NCCIA began receiving complaints against the accused in February 2025. Following investigations and location tracing, the raid was conducted on July 8, resulting in the arrest of 149 individuals - both local and foreign nationals - from a fraudulent call centre.
One complainant, Ayesha Munir from Toba Tek Singh, said the accused had sent her links to YouTube and TikTok channels, offered subscription tasks with initial returns, and then convinced her to invest Rs499,280 through Easypaisa, JazzCash, and bank accounts.
Another complainant, Irfan Yaseen of Faisalabad, reported a loss of Rs256,000 through similar schemes involving Telegram links and fraudulent payment channels. Other victims included Sajid Qayyum (Rs3.13 million), Muhammad Waseem (Rs646,000), Abdul Wasi (Rs739,600), and Kazim Amjad (Rs730,000 and Rs120,000). Investigations are ongoing, and the NCCIA is intensifying efforts to apprehend Tahseen, and dismantle the remaining network involved in one of the country’s largest online fraud operations in recent years.