FIA files money laundering case against Mustafa Amir murder suspect

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a money laundering case against Armaghan, the prime suspect in the Mustafa Amir kidnap and murder case.

The FIR No 6/25 was registered at the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Circle of the FIA on the complaint of AD Shahid Ali of the FIA, AML Circle Karachi under the sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 (Amended 2020).

According to the copy of the FIR obtained by The News, this case was registered pursuant to the Enquiry No 36/2025, conducted under the Federal Investigation Agency Act 1974 , The accused, Armaghan Kamran, son of Kamran Asghar Qureshi, was arrested by the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) of the Karachi police in connection with a kidnapping for ransom case.

During a raid conducted on February 8 at a bungalow on Khayaban-e-Momin, DHA Phase V, law enforcement seized multiple laptops, weapons, and instruments specifically intended for online financial fraud. Consequently, the AVCC referred this case to the FIA AML Circle, Karachi.

The FIA AML Circle’s investigations revealed that Armaghan was involved in numerous criminal cases. The FIR reads that the FIA AML team acting under the sections 14 and 15 of the AML Act 2010, conducted an authorised search and seizure operation, recovering substantial evidence indicative of international financial fraud. The evidence included 18 laptops and copies of scripts used to defraud victims. These scripts contained detailed instructions for calling agents, who were employees of Armaghan, impersonating as officials from internationally recognised bodies such as the United States Patent & Trademark Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization to unlawfully extract sensitive personal and financial information from the victims.

The calling agents admitted that as per instructions of Armaghan Kamra, they called victims in the US impersonating as representatives of the USPTO and WIPO and acquired sensitive identity information including full name, mother’s name, debit/credit card details, CVV codes, social security numbers, etc.

Following this, the customers were told to make transactions in lieu of purported fees which ended up in the pocket of Armaghan. The suspect worked for organisations such as the Axact Pvt Ltd between 2015 and 2017, and subsequently established his illegal call centre in 2018, which was intentionally structured to conduct fraudulent activities.

He registered an entity named the AIDA Communications LLC in Maryland, USA, strategically positioning himself to channel illicit proceeds internationally.

Evidence collected during the inquiry indicated that the Armaghan employed at least 25 calling agents at a time, and they were all assigned with the target of defrauding at least five victims in a daily shift. As each of the victims were charged with US $400 to US $999, evidence suggests that Armaghan accrued approximately US $300,000 to US $400,000 per month from his illegal call centre.

The FIR states that the suspect also illicitly routed derived funds in cryptocurrencies via platforms like Paxful and NoOnes (online cryptocurrency trading/P2P platforms), effectively disguising their criminal origin. The accused sold the cryptocurrencies on a need basis through Paxful and NoOnes and other platforms. He purchased expensive cars and paid for them through proceeds of cryptocurrency sales.

He made the cryptocurrency buyers to transfer funds directly from their respective bank accounts to the accounts of showrooms or vehicle sellers.

The FIA also found that the suspect had opened bank accounts using identity information of his servants Abdul Rahim and Rahim Bakhsh. Debit cards had been issued against these accounts which were used by Armaghan to meet his day-to-day expenses. These accounts were replenished with crime proceeds from third-party accounts.

The investigators identified assets worth approximately Rs154 million that were acquired by Armaghan with criminal proceeds. The FIR reads that Armaghan and his father set up entities namely AIDA Communications Pvt Ltd (SECP CUIN: 0119431), AMA Universal Pvt Ltd (SECP CUIN: 0121152) and AIDA Communications LLC, Maryland, US, as front businesses reasonably believed to be linked to their money laundering operations.