The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has taken into custody five individuals, including the manager of a private bank branch, over a suspected illegal currency exchange and hawala-hundi operation in Karachi.
According to an agency spokesperson, the FIA's Anti-Corruption Circle conducted a raid on the bank's branch located in Block 4 of Federal B Area under inquiry number 107/2026.
The arrested persons were named as Farhan Ahmed, Faisal Ahmed, Kashif Alvi, Muhammad Naseem and Junaid Ahmed, with Alvi identified as the branch manager. The statement clarified that the bank itself was not found to be operating the network.
Officials reported that they recovered 300,000 Saudi riyals in cash, seven smart devices and mobile phones, and checkbooks from various banks.
The FIA said the seized phones allegedly held WhatsApp chats, digital ledgers and financial transaction records tied to the suspected hawala-hundi network, and that the cash, devices and other records were formally confiscated.
Investigators are probing the origins of the transactions and seeking to locate additional individuals and possible facilitators linked to the alleged scheme.
The spokesperson added that proceedings are in progress to file a case under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and other relevant statutes, noting that the allegations have not yet been proven in court.
