NADRA official remanded in fake CNICs scam

Court declares three suspects proclaimed offenders in software firm fraud

KARACHI:

A local court handed over on Thursday a deputy director of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for physical remand.

The FIA’s anti-human trafficking cell produced NADRA Deputy Director Gauri Shankar, accused of issuing fake computerised national identity cards (CNICs), before the East judicial magistrate at Karachi City Court.

The FIA official informed the court that thus far 18 suspects have been arrested in the six cases registered pertaining to the fake CNIC scam. Shankar was on the run and evading arrest, said the FIA official.

He added that a co-accused, Yasir Zeb, who is the assistant director for NADRA’s agency support cell had demanded a bribe of Rs1 million from Shankar to help him evade arrest. Yasir was given Rs650,000 in cash and Rs250,000 was deposited in his account to buy his silence and facilitation in the scam, said the FIA official, adding that the search to arrest co-accused Yasir Zeb was underway.

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The magistrate handed over Shankar to the FIA for three-day physical remand.

The suspects arrested thus far include other senior NADRA officers, foreign nationals and agents.

Proclaimed offenders

Hearing the case pertaining to a money-laundering scam by a private software company called Digitonics Labs, the East judicial magistrate declared three accused on the run as proclaimed offenders and issued directives to block their CNICs.

Digitonics CEO Burhan Mirza and seven other accused released on bail appeared before the court. The FIA IO submitted a report pertaining to the accused on the run, which mentioned that four of them have acquired bail from a district and sessions court.

These include the company’s Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Muhammad Rashid Siddiqui, Hassan Mansoor, Saqib Hassan and Syed Hamid Ali.

The court declared three other accused, namely Junaid Mansoor, Qasim Mansoor and Arsalan Khan as proclaimed offenders and adjourned the hearing till September 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2021.