The Federal Investigation Agency has exposed what may be one of the largest digital financial crime operations in Pakistan’s history: an alleged online gambling network that moved nearly Rs. 120 billion — roughly $433.5 million — through shell companies, branchless banking accounts and cryptocurrency channels. Two suspects are in custody, raids are continuing, and the fallout is already rippling through the country’s mobile wallet ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
- The FIA’s Faisalabad circle has traced Rs119.93 billion in transactions linked to six online gambling platforms, filing FIR No. 32/2026 against eight suspects.
- Eleven single-member shell companies disguised betting money as ordinary business and peer-to-peer transfers through JazzCash, Easypaisa and USDT channels.
- The crackdown is already disrupting Pakistan’s digital payments: JazzCash shut 100+ aggregator accounts and Easypaisa merchant settlements faced delays.
The numbers behind the case
In September 2026, the FIA’s Faisalabad Composite Circle opened a probe into suspicious digital transactions and followed the money trail into a sprawling operation. The headline figures, drawn from the agency’s investigation records and cited in FIR No. 32/2026, are staggering:
- Rs119.93 billion in combined credit turnover across 11 single-member companies
- Rs118.80 billion in debit turnover through the same companies
- Rs8.586 billion received through just five branchless banking collection accounts, spread across approximately 10.49 million individual transactions
- Six online gambling platforms allegedly at the centre of the network
- Eight suspects named in the FIR; two already in custody
The FIA has stressed that these figures represent total transaction volumes passing through the accounts, not necessarily money stolen or personally retained by the accused. The distinction matters: investigators must still establish which flows were genuinely criminal and how much of the turnover was layered movement designed to disguise origins.
How the network allegedly worked
According to the FIR and officials who have briefed the press, the network did not route money through complex offshore banks. Instead, it exploited Pakistan’s own branchless banking system — the JazzCash and Easypaisa networks used by millions of ordinary people every day.
Shell companies as fronts
Eleven single-member companies formed the backbone of the operation. Investigators say these firms were presented to banks and wallet operators as legitimate businesses in e-commerce, digital marketing and construction — but the transactions flowing through their corporate accounts told a different story. Eight of the companies were registered under the names of just three individuals, and those eight alone recorded credit turnover exceeding Rs105 billion.
One of the arrested suspects allegedly owned three of the companies, which together handled around Rs47.78 billion in credit turnover. The second suspect is accused of building and testing dummy websites for the firms — a step investigators say helped the companies obtain corporate payment accounts.
Payments disguised as everyday transfers
To evade detection, betting payments were allegedly disguised as standard peer-to-peer (P2P) or business-to-business (B2B) transfers. Deposit amounts into the collection accounts reportedly matched the payment values offered on the gambling platforms, helping investigators connect the financial trail to betting activity.
From there, the money allegedly moved through a familiar layering pattern: bank accounts, mobile wallets, and then into cryptocurrency networks — particularly USDT — before disappearing into what the FIA describes as digital hundi/hawala channels.
Six gambling platforms named
The investigation has linked the financial flows to six online gambling platforms: U7777 Game, TD777, Game89, EPIWIN, B9 Game and S9 Game. The last of these reportedly offered games including Teen Patti, Roulette, Ludo, Mines and Blackjack — casual, mobile-friendly formats designed to draw in everyday users.
Investigators are also examining an alleged profit-sharing arrangement under which those involved reportedly earned between Rs100 million and Rs450 million over roughly a year. They are also reviewing allegations that the network proposed a local payment mechanism for an associate described as an international agent connected to the platforms. All of these allegations remain subject to investigation and judicial determination.
The crackdown hits Pakistan’s digital payments
The investigation has not stayed confined to police files. Its impact is already visible in the day-to-day functioning of the country’s digital payment rails.
JazzCash closed more than 100 aggregator accounts after receiving FIA notices, with additional accounts flagged and suspended during the company’s own internal review. The wallet operator has not issued a public statement, but the closures are expected to affect its earnings, since aggregator-linked transactions formed a substantial share of its volume.
Easypaisa, meanwhile, saw settlement delays across its merchant and payment intermediary channels around October 5, affecting firms including SWICH, Simpaisa, ajarPay, RapidPay, Zero Technologies and Finza Tech, as well as international processor dLocal. Routine wallet services and person-to-person transfers remained functional.
The episode underlines a structural vulnerability: aggregators and intermediaries sit between consumers, merchants and wallet operators, and the State Bank of Pakistan only introduced a new framework for payment intermediaries in May 2026, tightening documentation, foreign exchange compliance and financial-flow monitoring requirements. The FIA probe will test whether that framework was enough.
What the accused are charged with
The FIR names eight individuals under Sections 4, 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, together with Sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code — provisions covering fraud, forgery and the use of forged documents.
Faryal Khan, public relations officer to the FIA director in Faisalabad, has confirmed the two arrests and said operations are continuing to locate the remaining suspects. The FIA Director General has formed a committee of agency officers to conduct a comprehensive investigation, examining financial records, digital evidence and the network’s structure.
Critically, these are allegations. No court has tested the FIA’s claims, and several details — including possible assistance from payment-service insiders — remain under investigation.
Why this matters for Pakistan
Online gambling is illegal in Pakistan, yet gambling apps have proliferated on smartphones, often marketed through social media and wrapped in the look of casual gaming. This case suggests that some of the most popular platforms were not fly-by-night operations but were serviced by an industrial-scale financial plumbing system — shell companies, corporate wallet accounts and crypto off-ramps — built to look boring to compliance systems.
It also arrives at a sensitive moment for Pakistan’s digital finance ambitions. Branchless banking has been one of the country’s genuine success stories, bringing millions into the formal financial system. A scandal of this scale, touching both major wallet networks, risks eroding the trust that growth depends on — and invites tougher scrutiny that could raise costs for legitimate fintech businesses.
Whether the FIA can convert a spectacular money trail into convictions is the real question. Tracing Rs. 120 billion is an investigative achievement; proving, in court, who knowingly laundered gambling money through layered accounts is a much longer fight. For now, the message to the country’s digital finance industry is unmistakable: the era of looking the other way at aggregator volumes is over.
