ISLAMABAD (HRNW): The Anti-Human Trafficking Circle of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Islamabad has arrested the central suspect in a high-profile U.S. visa fraud case, identified as Al-Sheikh Al-Sayyid Saifuddin Arifi (son of Hafiz Muhammad Aslam, also known as Usman Gilani or Peer Sahab). The arrest was carried out following the cancellation of the suspect’s bail by the Court of Special Judge Central Islamabad. The action originated from a formal referral by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, which revealed that several visa applicants attempted to travel to the United States using forged documents. Investigations uncovered a sophisticated scheme where the suspect and his accomplices provided applicants with fake invitation letters to a purported “Festival of Sufi Wisdom” in the U.S., accompanied by counterfeit letters from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other bogus credentials.
Preliminary findings indicate that the suspect defrauded numerous citizens of millions of rupees by promising visit visas, with individual contracts ranging from PKR 4.5 to 7 million. Arifi allegedly gained the victims’ trust by posing as an influential figure, a close relative of a prominent religious leader from Golra Sharif, and a government official. He reportedly claimed to have facilitated the overseas travel of two groups of 12 people each in 2023 and 2024, operating a network that specialized in preparing fraudulent DS-160 forms, invitation letters, and interview coaching. The FIA has registered a case under the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act 2018 (Sections 3, 4, 7) and the Pakistan Penal Code (Sections 420 and 468). While further investigations are underway to identify other facilitators, the FIA has warned the public to avoid unregistered agents and rely only on legal channels for visa processing.
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