FIA Recovers Rs 42.5 Million From NCCIA Officials in Major Corruption Bust

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has recovered Rs 42.548 million from officials of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a major anti-corruption operation, according to a reply submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom.

The recoveries were made in a Lahore-based case involving eight accused individuals, including senior officers.

The seized amount includes Rs 11.295 million from Additional Director Ch. Sarfaraz, Rs. 9.99 million from Deputy Director Zawar Ahmed, Rs. 9 million from Assistant Director Sohaib Riaz, Rs. 5.015 million from Deputy Director Muhammad Usman, Rs. 3.6 million from Assistant Director Mujtaba Zafar, Rs. 1.948 million from Sub-Inspector Yasir Ramzan, Rs. 700,000 from Sub-Inspector Ali Raza, and Rs. 1 million from a private individual, Salman Aziz, identified as an alleged frontman.

The recoveries stem from FIR No. 36/2025, registered by the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle Lahore, which focuses on allegations of bribery and abuse of authority within NCCIA Lahore. The case gained attention after claims emerged that a bribe had been taken from Aroob Jatoi, wife of YouTuber Saad ur Rehman, also known as Ducky Bhai, to extend undue favor in a cybercrime case registered as NCCIA Case No. 196/2025.

Investigators have described the incident as revealing only a small part of what they believe is a much larger, systemic corruption network operating within the agency.

According to the investigation, NCCIA officials allegedly ran a monthly bribe racket, receiving illegal payments from call centers, aggregate companies, and accused individuals in ongoing cybercrime cases. It is further alleged that portions of the illegal proceeds were passed up the chain to senior officials to secure and retain lucrative postings. The large sums recovered from senior and mid-level officers have been cited as evidence of corruption across multiple levels of the organization.

In a separate case, FIR No. 97/2025, registered by the FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Islamabad/Rawalpindi, officials are accused of extorting Rs300 million from illegally operating call centers in Bahria Town. The money was allegedly taken to provide legal cover and protection to call centers reportedly run by Chinese nationals.

A Chinese national, Gua Kaxian, also known as Kelvin, has been named as a proclaimed offender in the case, indicating an international dimension to the alleged corruption. Despite the scale of the alleged bribe, investigators have so far recovered only Rs1.5 million, which was seized from Sub-Inspector Sarim Ali.

The FIA has arrested several accused, including Additional Director Ch. Sarfaraz, whose post-arrest bail has been dismissed. Investigators have sought physical remands, blocked bank accounts, traced properties, and sent mobile phones and digital material to the National Forensic Agency for forensic analysis.

Steps are also underway to declare absconding suspects as proclaimed offenders, which would lead to CNIC blocking and property seizures. Alongside the criminal investigation, NCCIA has initiated departmental proceedings against the accused officials. The FIA has also moved to submit interim challans in court, citing what investigators describe as strong evidence in the cases.