The Federal Investigation Agency has moved to freeze a bank account at the centre of its investigation into an alleged Rs120 billion online gambling and illegal money transfer network, after tracing nearly Rs690 million in suspicious banking transactions.
According to the agency’s investigation report, the FIA has asked a bank to block debit transactions on the account of a Faisalabad-linked company. The company is connected to four transactions worth Rs49.165 million, and investigators are examining what commercial purpose, if any, the payments served and whether they formed part of a wider settlement network.
The case is registered as FIR No. 32/2026 with the FIA’s Composite Circle in Faisalabad. At the heart of the inquiry is the suspected movement of money collected in Pakistan to beneficiaries in China allegedly linked to online gambling operations. The original FIR names a Chinese associate, Michael, who is alleged to have handled the international side of the network. Investigators acknowledge, however, that the full trail to the Chinese beneficiaries has not yet been conclusively established.
The report says investigators identified several third-party accounts that received large sums from the principal accused without any established legitimate business relationship. Two major recipient accounts showed transactions of about Rs490 million and Rs150 million. The account holders, mostly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were issued notices to join the investigation but have not appeared before the agency.
According to the report, several single-member companies were incorporated to obtain corporate branchless banking accounts and bypass the daily deposit limits that apply to individual accounts. The FIA has obtained corporate records from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, along with account-opening forms, banking documents and transaction histories, which showed wide gaps between the companies’ declared business and the transactions in their accounts.
The probe covers records linked to the digital payment platform of a mobile phone company, a microfinance bank and a private bank associated with a Bahrain-based financial group. Officials of the microfinance bank and the private bank have been nominated in the FIR. Several people who deposited money into the collection accounts gave statements under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, confirming that the deposits were made to play online gambling games.
Investigators have also traced transactions between two principal accused, Muhammad Zeeshan and Waqar Rashid Khan. Banking analysis found Rs35 million moved from accounts associated with Zeeshan to those of Khan, while the alleged cash component of their profit-sharing arrangement remains under investigation. The FIA had earlier arrested Zeeshan and Muhammad Hamza Sarwar in connection with the case.
The original findings identified about Rs8.586 billion collected through five branchless banking accounts across nearly 10.49 million transactions. An examination of 11 companies showed aggregate credits of about Rs119.93 billion and debits of about Rs118.80 billion. The agency stresses these are transaction volumes, not established criminal proceeds or losses. The FIR names several gambling platforms, including U7777 Game, TD777 Game, 89F Game and EPIWIN.
Director General FIA Dr Usman Anwar is said to be reviewing the case daily. Faryal Khan, spokesperson for the FIA Faisalabad Zone director, said the investigation is moving rapidly, correspondence with departments, banks and financial institutions is continuing, and further arrests are expected as more evidence emerges. The FIA said it is examining every transaction individually to identify facilitators, recipients and ultimate beneficiaries.
