A Karachi court issued on Thursday a non-bailable arrest warrant for television and social media personality Waqar Zaka in a case pertaining to an Rs86 million cryptocurrency scam.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had detained Zaka earlier this year as part of an investigation into possible virtual currency-related transactions from his bank account.
The former TV anchor skipped court on Thursday when the case was heard by the judicial magistrate.
The judge then ordered the office to issue a non-bailable arrest for Zaka, who is allegedly evading capture in the case. The hearing was then postponed until January 5.
The FIA has said that an inquiry was initiated against Zaka upon the receipt of a source report initiated by the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU).
It stated that during the last three years the aggregated credits of Rs86.1 million and debt of Rs87.1 million were observed in his bank account, adding that the bank’s statement revealed that the funds were being credited into the accounts through foreign remittance and clearing of cheques, which were subsequently debited through internal transfer to the accounts of his different family members.
It went on to say that Zaka used social media for charity purposes and international crowdfunding — through which he received Rs6.8 million. FIA added that the money was withdrawn through a pay order and interbank fund transfer.
“Whereas the multiple news, blogs, and videos were found on a public database which transpires involvement of accused Waqar Zaka into cryptocurrency/virtual assets”, alleged the agency.
