Zim national among 149 arrested in massive Pakista...

Zim national among 149 arrested in massive Pakistan Ponzi scheme bust

Courtesy: Ehtisham Shami Image shows the suspects arrested after a raid on a call centre operating in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistan

ZimNow International Desk

One Zimbabwean national has been arrested in a major cybercrime bust in Pakistan, which authorities say uncovered a sprawling Ponzi scheme operated through fake investment networks and online platforms.

According to Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, the raid took place in the industrial city of Faisalabad and led to the arrest of 149 suspects, including 48 Chinese nationals, 8 Nigerians, 6 Bangladeshis, 4 Filipinos, 2 Sri Lankans, 2 Myanmar nationals, and one Zimbabwean.

The Zim identity has not yet been released by the authorities, but their arrest places Zimbabwe in the eye of a growing global concern: the misuse of digital platforms to orchestrate transnational financial scams.

The NCCIA said the call center was at the heart of an elaborate online Ponzi network that operated across WhatsApp and Telegram, luring victims with promises of quick returns for low-risk “digital tasks” like following YouTube or TikTok accounts.

But as participants began to earn small initial returns, they were urged to "invest" larger sums in exchange for higher payouts—money that ultimately vanished.

One Pakistani victim told the BBC he handed over more than 3 million rupees (approx. US$11,000) before realizing it was a scam.

Authorities seized hundreds of computers, servers, foreign SIM cards, and cryptocurrency exchange records during the Tuesday raid.

The suspects were paraded in court on Wednesday. Of these, 87 were placed on five-day physical remand, while 62 were sent to jail pending trial on July 23. Notably, the residence raided belonged to Malik Tehseen Awan, a former head of the city’s power grid, who has not yet been arrested.