Olympics visa scam: Abid Chaudhry sent on 14-day judicial remand

Chaudhry insists the real culprit is Ali Asad, The Sun’s undercover man.

LAHORE:

Civil Court Judge Matiur Rehman sent Abid Chaudhry and Abdul Raqeeb, two of the accused in the London Olympics passport scam, on a 14-day judicial remand on Saturday.

Chaudhry and Raqeeb, affiliated with the Dream Land travel agency, were presented before the civil court by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The FIA submitted that the investigation against the accused has been completed and they needed to ask no further questions from them. Chaudhry stated that he was innocent and that the real culprit was Mohammad Ali Asad.

Previously, the court had granted two days of physical remand of the accused.

The visa scam surfaced after British tabloid The Sun published a report on fake travel documents for London, in connection with Pakistan’s Olympic squad. However, an investigation conducted by the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) dismissed the claims, calling the report a scam.

After NADRA’s findings, judicial magistrate Sohail Anjum had acquitted accused Muhammad Asif, Syed Wasif Ali, Mukhtar Husain and Faheem Ahmad and ordered their release.

The Pakistani government has registered a case against Asad for fraud, impersonation and mis-declaration, and is trying to work towards his deportation from the UK, while also declaring him the main accused in the case.

However, the administration of the tabloid stated that its report was based on information backed by footage of Chaudhry claiming he could get their man a two-month visa and smuggle him into London as part of Pakistan’s Olympic squad for around £7,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2012.