January 10, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 19, 1427

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LAHORE, Jan 9: A ruling party MNA is pressuring the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to set at liberty an accused who happens to be her first cousin, it is learnt.

The FIA’s anti-cyber crime cell on Monday arrested Mohammad Khan alias Ali for printing counterfeit credit cards with the help of latest (foreign) machines. He and his group allegedly had drawn about Rs20 million from different foreign banks through such cards.

Sources in the agency told Dawn on Tuesday that the accused was a close relative to the MNA who was using her influence for his “immediate release”. They said the cell was resisting the pressure and had obtained a five-day physical remand of the accused — a resident of Defence who has done graduation in computer sciences.

The accused, according to sources, had been operating from Lahore for the past several years. “Four machines — Magnetic Strip Reader and Writer (MSP), ID Printer, Chip Reader and Writer and PVC Card Emboss — imported from the USA had enabled him to print the forged credit cards and it was hard to differentiate those from the genuine ones,” they added.

They said the gang used the cards while shopping for gold ornaments. They also used them at filling stations in different districts of Punjab with the connivance of their employees.

The FIA managed to arrest one of Khan’s accomplices, Nadeem, last month who provided a vital lead. During interrogation, Khan told the agency that he used to download the data about foreign banks and get it printed on the counterfeit credit cards through the latest machines.

The agency had recovered the machines, a laptop computer containing some valuable information and 13 such cards from him.

The accused has been booked under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance’s sections 36 and 37, and the PPC’s sections 420, 468 and 471.

Under section 36, “any person who gains or attempts to gain access to any information system with or without intent to acquire the information contained therein or gain knowledge of such information, whether or not he\she is aware of the nature or contents of such information, when he\she is not authorised to gain access shall be guilty of an offence punishable with either description of a term not exceeding seven years, or fine which may extend to Rs1 million or both”.

Similarly, the section 37 reads: “Any person who does or attempts to do any act with intent to alter, modify, delete, remove, generate, transmit or store any information through or in any information system knowingly that he\she is not authorised to do any of the foregoing, shall be guilty of an offence punishable with either description of a term not exceeding seven years, or fine which may extend to Rs1 million or both.”