LAHORE – The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Corruption Circle Lahore has registered a case against Additional Director Chaudhry Sarfraz and eight other officials of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on charges of corruption, bribery, and criminal breach of trust in YouTuber Ducky Bhai’s case. According to the FIR, the case was lodged on the complaint of Arooba Jatoi, wife of YouTuber Saqib Rahman alias Ducky Bhai. The complainant alleged that FIA and NCCIA officials demanded a bribe of Rs9 million for the release of her husband, who was under investigation in a cybercrime case for promoting online gambling applications on social media. Those identified in the First Information Report (FIR) include Additional Director Sarfraz, Acting Deputy Director Lahore Zawar Ahmad, Assistant Directors Shoaib Riaz and Mujtaba Zafar, Sub-Inspectors Ali Raza and Yasir Ramzan, alongwith Islamabad-based officers Muhammad Usman, Ayaz Khan, and Salman Aziz.
As stated in the FIR, Assistant Director Shoaib Riaz, who was overseeing the investigation against YouTuber Saad Rehman, allegedly demanded Rs9 million from his family through middlemen, promising to ease the case proceedings. The FIR stated that Rs6 million was paid in cash in Sheikhupura, while the remaining Rs3 million was transferred via cheques. The report further alleges that Riaz illicitly moved more than $326,000 from Rehman’s Binance cryptocurrency account into his own wallet. The case has been registered under Sections 109 and 161 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). Six of the accused, including Sarfraz, Zawar Ahmad, and Riaz, were brought in handcuffs before a Lahore magistrate on Tuesday. The FIA sought their physical remand to continue interrogation regarding the alleged bribery scheme. The court, however, asked the prosecution to justify the arrests. FIA lawyers informed the magistrate that the inquiry was ongoing, while the defence maintained that the agency had violated internal regulations requiring the NCCIA director general’s approval before detaining officers of Grade 18. Defence attorney Mian Ali Ashfaq argued that complainant Aroob Jatoi had acknowledged paying the bribe but was not made part of the investigation. He further alleged that the FIR against the NCCIA officials was filed hastily, without proper verification.
The investigation has been initiated under the supervision of Assistant Director Syed Zain-ul-Abidin of FIA ACC Lahore. Copies of the FIR have been forwarded to senior FIA officials and the Special Judge Central-III Lahore for further legal proceedings.
