Immigration fraud: FIA yet to arrest CEO of consultancy firm

Up to 56 cases registered against Asim Malik of Future Concern.

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested two employees of a consultancy firm, Future Concern, but its chief executive – the principal accused, against whom 56 cases have been registered – remains at large, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The 56 cases registered against CEO Asim Malik are on charges of extorting more than Rs400 million from 65 people on the pretext of getting them immigration for Canada, Australia, the UK and other European countries.

Two employees of the consultancy firm, identified as customer relations manager Adeel and accountant Tanveer, have been arrested by the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle.

After sealing the office of Future Concern, situated on Abid Majeed Road in a cantonment area of Lahore, the FIA and the Sarwar Road Police Station seized three vehicles belonging to the firm.

However, the agency has failed to detect the assets directly in the name of Malik, but has unearthed details of assets under his wife, Zobia Rabab Malik, including a piece of land measuring 380 acres in Bhehra in Sargodha district.

The FIA has also sought the Call Data Record (CDR) of Malik, along with his location from an intelligence agency, which revealed his last destination as Islamabad. But for a while, he has not used a mobile phone, the CDR obtained by the FIA revealed. The FIA has also sought the complete details of bank accounts, properties and vehicles owned by Malik from the State Bank of Pakistan, the Excise and Taxation Department, Revenue Department, DHA, the Capital Development Authority and other concerned authorities.

More cases are likely to be registered against Malik as about 10 inquiries are still pending with the FIA and agency officials are waiting for complainants to record their statements under section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a step that is mandatory for registering a criminal case.

A three-member investigation team is supervising the inquiry because of the high-profile nature of the scandal, which involves dozens of victims as well as millions of rupees, sources in the FIA said.

Despite registering cases against Malik and placing him on the Exit Control List, the police and the FIA have been unable to arrest him because he is allegedly backed by some influential dignitaries in the federal and Punjab governments. Repeated directions by the Lahore High Court for the immediate arrest of Malik have also been fruitless, sources stated.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, FIA officials said that more cases will be registered once the remaining inquiries are completed after the complainants record their statements.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2012.