Karachi Court Issues Non-bailable Arrest Warrant for Waqar Zaka for Rs173 Million Cryptocurrency-related Transactions

A Karachi court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Waqar Zaka in a case pertaining to a cryptocurrency scam on Thursday. Earlier this year, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had booked Zaka in connection with an inquiry into alleged virtual currency-related transactions from his bank account.

When the matter was taken up by the judicial magistrate, the former TV host failed to appear in court. The judge directed the office to issue a non-bailable arrest for Zaka — who is allegedly absconding to avoid his arrest in the case.

The case was taken up by Judicial Magistrate (East) Mukesh Kumar on Thursday against Zaka, who is spearheading a campaign for virtual currencies to be declared legal tender in Pakistan.

The magistrate directed the FIA prosecutor to submit a report regarding the execution of the warrant on the next date and adjourned the hearing until January 5, 2023. The case was lodged on the complaint of the state through Shehryar Ahmed Khan, assistant director of the FIA cybercrime circle, who stated that an inquiry was launched against Zaka upon receipt of a source report from the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) in August 2020.

He said the record collected by the FIA from the relevant banks revealed that during the last three years, transactions of over Rs 173 million were observed in his bank accounts, including an aggregate credit of Rs 86.1 million and debt of Rs 87.1 million.

The statement of the accounts revealed that funds were being credited into these accounts through foreign remittances (interbank fund transfer) and clearing of cheques, which were subsequently debited through internal transfer to accounts of his family members, he added.

The FIA stated that Zaka used social media for charity purposes and international funding, receiving Rs6.8 million, which was withdrawn through the pay order and interbank fund transfer.

“The multiple news, blogs, and videos were found on a public database which transpires involvement of accused Waqar Zaka into cryptocurrency/virtual assets. During the inquiry, Bitcoin/cryptocurrency-related posts were found on his Twitter account, the accused also promotes cryptocurrency like Bitcoin through YouTube channels.”

The agency said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) did not recognize virtual assets as legal tender to store and transfer value, adding that the central bank had also issued a caution regarding the risk of trade in cryptocurrencies and prohibited the public from trading in any such currencies.

It said that after examining the report, secured documents like copies of the bank records and institutions, and oral evidence, it had been substantiated that the accused, in violation of banking rules and regulations and prescribed law of the country, fraudulently and dishonestly committed the offense of virtual assets trading and facilitated the use of virtual assets for transferring funds and generating funds.

The FIA maintained that after the inquiry was initiated and the accused was summoned, he launched false propaganda against the institutions of the state and was found involved in illegal activities through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter by putting up objectionable material against the institutions, threats to government officials and provoking the public against the state.

The agency maintained that after examining the report, secured documents such as copies of the bank records and institutions, and oral evidence, it had been substantiated that the accused — in violation of banking rules and regulations and prescribed law of the country — fraudulently and dishonestly committed the offenses of virtual assets/cryptocurrency trading and facilitating to use virtual assets for transferring funds and generating profits.

It added that after the inquiry was initiated and the accused was summoned, he initiated false propaganda against the institutions of the state and was found involved in illegal activities through social media by putting up objectionable material/remarks against the institutions, threats to the government officials and provoking the public against the state.

Waqar Zaka was allegedly found guilty of committing offenses punishable under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, Pakistan Penal Code, Anti-Money Laundering Act 2020 and Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, FIA added.