By Brigadier (Retd) Viqar Rashid Khan, who headed the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) from 2013 to 2021, has been named as an accused in the Federal Investigation Agency’s Rs120 billion online gambling and hawala/hundi case. NTC is the state-owned carrier that handles the government’s own communications. According to the FIR, Khan arranged the payment facilities the network relied on and took a share of the proceeds.
Khan is reportedly on pre-arrest bail and has not been arrested. The allegations against him are unproven and under investigation. No court has ruled on the case, and all accused are presumed innocent.
TechJuice has reached out to Khan for comment and will update this story if he responds.
What the FIR Reveals
The case, FIR No. 32/2026, was registered at the FIA Composite Circle Faisalabad on 24 September 2026 following Enquiry No. 1698/2025. It invokes Sections 4, 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, read with Sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Assistant Director Shahid Imran is the investigating officer.
The FIR records a statement from the principal accused, Muhammad Zeeshan, in which he says Khan proposed setting up a local payment system for a Chinese associate identified only as “Michael”, described as a global agent for online gambling platforms. The plan was to connect Pakistani branchless banking corporate and API accounts to the platforms in exchange for a 1–2% cut of deposits.
According to that statement, Khan arranged an online meeting with Michael. Bogus corporate accounts were then opened with JazzCash and Easypaisa during 2024–2025 in the names of Single Member Companies (SMCs), allegedly with illicit help from certain officials at the two wallet operators. Another accused, Muhammad Hamza Sarwar, allegedly built dummy websites for the shell companies and tested them against the wallets’ payment integrations.The FIR says profits were initially split 25% to Khan and 37.5% each to Zeeshan and Michael, later revised to 50-50 between Zeeshan and Khan. Zeeshan allegedly made Rs400–450 million, while Khan allegedly received Rs100–150 million over roughly a year, first through a joint bank account and later in cash. TechJuice earlier reported that FIA banking analysis traced about Rs35 million moving from Zeeshan-linked accounts to Khan’s
The Money Trail
The FIA says 11 SMCs presenting themselves as e-commerce and digital marketing firms recorded Rs119.93 billion in credits and Rs118.80 billion in debits. Martnmarts SMC alone accounted for Rs33.65 billion, followed by Teamsmart at Rs21.68 billion, and Housemart and New Heights Builders at roughly Rs13.2 billion each.
Five branchless collection accounts received Rs8.586 billion through about 10.49 million transactions, amounts the FIR says matched the deposit denominations offered on the gambling apps. From there, funds allegedly moved through “swap” and disbursement accounts at microfinance bank branches, mostly in Sahiwal, then into five accounts at Faysal Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank holding Rs19.27 billion in credits. The money was then routed to scrap, mobile phone, cloth and grain traders in Peshawar, Buner and Shahkas, before allegedly being settled through digital hawala/hundi and USDT.
The FIR also cites 29 currency transaction reports totalling Rs357.02 million, of which about Rs321.97 million is attributed to Zeeshan.
The Apps
Ten platforms are named: U7777 Game, TD777 Game, 89F Game, EPIWIN, 1ee.com, 3rr.com, Z7.com, i8.fun, B9 Game and S9 Game. The FIR describes them as near-identical online casinos, differing only in colour scheme, that accepted real-money bets via bank transfers, mobile wallets and cryptocurrency, and lured users with aggressive referral rewards.
Key Figures
| Rs119.93bn | Credits recorded across 11 shell SMCs |
| 11 | Single Member Companies posing as e-commerce and marketing firms |
| 10.49 million | Gambling-sized deposits into five collection accounts (Rs8.586bn) |
| 10 | Online casino apps named in the FIR |
| Rs100–150m | Amount Viqar Rashid Khan allegedly received, per the FIR |
What Happens Next
Eight people are named in the FIR: Muhammad Zeeshan, Imran Ali, Muhammad Amir, Ali Shan, Abu Sufyan, Azhar Iqbal, Muhammad Hamza Sarwar and Viqar Rashid Khan. Only Zeeshan and Hamza Sarwar have been arrested so far. The FIR states that the role of others, including bank officials, will be determined during the investigation. The FIA has also sought a freeze on debits from a Faisalabad-linked company’s account, and its spokesperson has said further arrests are expected.
The fallout has already spread. JazzCash shut more than 100 aggregator accounts following FIA instructions, as TechJuice reported in October, and both wallets have since suspended aggregator collections.
https://www.techjuice.pk/former-ntc-chief-named-in-fias-rs120-billion-online-gambling-case/
