‘Visa Fraud’: Petitioner asked to approach FIA

petitioner told the court that Iqbal had promised to get him a Hajj visa within a few weeks if he paid him Rs300,000.

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Tariq Mehmood Zargham on Monday directed the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) director to look into allegations that a man defrauded the petitioner by promising him a Hajj visa. The petitioner Mehmood Mushtaq told the court that in July 2012, a man named Javed Iqbal had promised to get him a Hajj visa within a few weeks if he paid him Rs300,000. Mushtaq said he had transferred the said amount into Iqbal’s account. He said he had then paid Iqbal Rs170,000 in cash, after which he was assured he would get the visa in a week. But Iqbal disappeared. The petitioner was directed by the judge to approach the FIA director for redress. The agency director was told to look into the matter and proceed in accordance with the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2013.