Karachi court grants NCCIA custody of two in alleged US insurance fraud case

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Monday granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) physical remand of two men accused of running an illegal call centre in Karachi and using data of American nationals to defraud US insurance companies.

The two suspects, Haider Umrani and Ayyan Najeeb, were produced before Judicial Magistrate (East) Gulraiz Memon after the NCCIA sought further custody, saying the investigation was still underway and that more recoveries and arrests were needed.

The agency told the court it had raided the call centre in Gulistan-i-Johar on July 14 after receiving a tip-off and had seized digital equipment during the operation. The NCCIA said the suspects were allegedly involved in illegal financial fraud activities and had been booked under Sections 3, 4, 13, 14, 16 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.

The investigating officer informed the court that during earlier custody, the two men allegedly disclosed that they had operated the call centre with absconding accomplices identified as Zeeshan, Umair, Talha, Sohaib and Idrees. He said the group had allegedly obtained credentials of US nationals from the dark web and used them to submit fraudulent medical insurance claims.

According to the investigating officer, insurance payouts were allegedly routed into the accounts of multiple shell limited liability companies registered in different US states before being transferred to Pakistan through the hawala and hundi network with the help of co-accused Sohaib and Idrees Memon.

The officer told the court that efforts to trace and arrest the remaining suspects had so far failed, alleging that the two men in custody were not cooperating and had concealed the whereabouts of their accomplices. He said further remand was required to recover digital devices, apprehend the absconders and trace the merchant accounts and payment channels allegedly used for unauthorised transactions.

The two suspects had earlier been sent to prison after completion of their previous physical custody, but the NCCIA challenged that order before the district and sessions judge (East), who allowed the agency's application.