ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) announced on Thursday that it has arrested a man suspected of selling fake Umrah visas, air tickets and travel packages to 49 citizens and defrauding them of Rs7 million [$25,000].

Thousands of Pakistanis travel to Saudi Arabia each month to visit the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah for the voluntary Umrah pilgrimage, a shorter version of Hajj. Pakistan’s religious ministry issues a list of certified Umrah companies each year to help these pilgrims avoid being defrauded by scammers posing as Umrah service providers.

Sharing details of the case, the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) Karachi said it arrested Ishtiaq Ali, a man associated with M/S Karwan-e-Safar Travel and Tours, for allegedly defrauding citizens on the pretext of providing them Umrah visas, air tickets and travel packages.

“According to preliminary investigations, he collected approximately Rs7 million from 49 people but failed to provide the promised Umrah visa services,” the FIA said. “Instead, he issued fake air tickets and hotel vouchers.”

The agency said a case has been registered against the suspect under sections 406 [criminal breach of trust], 420 [Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property] and 109 [Punishment of abetment] of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The FIA said it has also arrested another suspect who was wanted in a human trafficking and visa fraud case that was registered in 2014. The agency said Shahzad Baloch, the suspect, was named in the first information report and had been declared a proclaimed offender by a competent court after he failed to appear in proceedings over the years.

The agency said Baloch was part of an alleged human trafficking and visa fraud network involved in sending Pakistani citizens to the UAE through fake visas for money. It said Baloch was arrested on Wednesday.

The FIA said legal proceedings and investigations are underway in both cases.

“In the Umrah package fraud case, investigators are also tracing the embezzled money and identifying other potential victims,” it added.