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Karachi: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has filed a new case against Armaghan, the prime suspect in the Mustafa Amir murder case, unveiling a vast and sophisticated network of cybercrime, financial fraud, and money laundering.
According to officials, the authorities have added more charges to Armaghan, who faces an investigation for murder since he managed an illegal call center based in Karachi’s prestigious defense neighborhood starting in 2018. The FIA Cyber Crime Circle discovered that the facility conducted phone fraud operations that targeted American individuals and misled them with representations of international organizations.
The investigation suggests that the call center collected confidential banking and credit card data for the purpose of transferring it to cryptocurrency wallets that Armaghan controlled. To establish irrefutable evidence of these unlawful activities, the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) provided 63 laptops for forensic examination. Armaghan organized the operations, supervising twenty-five employees who defrauded a minimum of five consumers during each work shift.
The FIA’s Anti-Money Laundering Circle discovered that Armaghan and his father had established a front company in the United States to oversee an illicit hawala-hundi financial operation. The FIA submitted a report that demonstrated the monthly earnings of their unlicensed financial operation, which ranged from $400,000 to $500,000.
Armaghan converted the profits from illegal transactions into cryptocurrency and then used it to buy opulent vehicles. The prosecution maintains that Armaghan has sold at least five automobiles recently and currently owns three luxury vehicles valued at tens of millions of rupees. According to the FIR, Armaghan used bank accounts maintained by his employees to execute his illicit financial activities.
The FIA has booked Armaghan under Sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 (Amended 2020), which pertain to the offense of money laundering and its corresponding penalties.
On Wednesday, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi extended Armaghan’s remand with the FIA for another nine days. FIA officials informed the court that they are yet to gain access to Armaghan’s cryptocurrency wallets. The court has directed the agency to produce the suspect at the next hearing scheduled for April 24.
As the investigation deepens, authorities say more arrests are expected, with two of Armaghan’s associates, Abdul Rahim and Rahim Bakhsh, already under scrutiny for their alleged roles in facilitating the transfer of stolen funds to local bank accounts.
