Fake sleuth held in call centre scam

Fraudsters masqueraded as intelligence officers to extort 'protection money'

RAWALPINDI:

A fake military officer has been arrested after a gang of swindlers was said to be behind blackmail and extorting money from call centres run by Chinese and other foreign nationals in the city. Significant disclosures have surfaced in the sprawling corruption scandal surrounding call centres.

It has now emerged that swindlers, masquerading as intelligence officers, had been blackmailing call-centre proprietors and extorting vast sums of money.

Acting on a statement submitted by the call centre's management, Rawalpindi police have lodged a criminal case and arrested a suspect who had been falsely presenting himself as a Brigadier of an intelligence agency.

According to the case file, fraudsters in Rawalpindi had been introducing themselves as senior government officials in order to intimidate the owners and managers of Chinese-operated call centres into paying substantial amounts in illicit "protection money". The FIR was registered at Chaklala Police Station on the complaint of Areeba Rabab, a resident of Taxila.

In her statement, Rabab explained that she is married to a Chinese national, Gao Kaizan, and that both are employed at a Chinese call centre in Rawalpindi. Some months ago, an individual named Fawad Ahmed arrived at the premises with several unidentified accomplices and, after issuing threats, demanded a payment of Rs2 million. With her employer's knowledge, she paid 1.5m in cash and transferred a further Rs500,000 to an account.

A few days later, Ahmed claimed to have close links with one "Brigadier Ali Jan Owais" of an intelligence agency and offered to arrange a meeting, asserting that if regular monthly payments were made, the business would not be harassed. When the proposal was relayed to the call-centre owner, he agreed in order to avoid disruption to operations.

On April 8, Rabab and Raja Adnan Sagar proceeded to Chaklala Garrison, where Ahmed met them at the gate and escorted them inside. The complainant stated that inside the compound, a man identifying himself as Brigadier Ali Jan Owais introduced himself as an intelligence officer and displayed what appeared to be an agency nameplate on the table.

Another individual, Zaigham Abbas, presented himself as a Colonel. During the meeting, the pair demanded Rs6m, assuring the visitors that no agency or official would trouble them in the future. Her husband conveyed this demand to the call-centre owner, who again agreed, and the funds were duly transferred.