FIA uncovers fake passport, ID scam

Arrests 16, including passport and NADRA officers

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has uncovered an international racket allegedly involved in issuing Pakistani identity cards and passports to Afghan nationals.

As part of its crackdown, the agency has apprehended 16 individuals, including officials from the immigration and passport department, as well as the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA).

According to the FIA spokesperson, those detained include three assistant directors from the Passport and Immigration Directorate, which operates under the Ministry of Interior, four NADRA officers, four agents, and five Afghan citizens.

The FIA initiated action based on a complaint from the Passport and Immigration Directorate.
An investigation is currently underway, with additional raids being conducted to apprehend other officials and agents implicated in issuing Pakistani identity cards and passports to Afghan residents, the spokesperson added.

Last year, Pakistan launched a massive crackdown on Afghan nationals residing in the country without proper documents, amid strong protests from the Afghan government. As a result of the campaign, thousands of Afghan citizens were compelled to leave the country.

On December 28, 2023, the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle Islamabad apprehended a four-member gang of former NADRA employees involved in fraudulent activities related to issuance of identification cards to Afghans and foreigners by illicitly adding them to Pakistani family trees.

The illegal activities had taken place at the NADRA Mega Centre at Islamabad Blue Area, where the accused provided identity cards to foreign nationals during the years 2019 and 2020.

The suspects were alleged to have illegally collected biometric data of laborers participating in the Ehsaas programme and registered Afghan individuals in their family trees.