LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested three more suspects allegedly involved in illegal business of offering loans through mobile phone applications.

According to the FIA officials, the agency has arrested over 20 suspects involved in the scam since it launched a crackdown on such illegal businesses following the suicide of a man who couldn’t pay off his debt to a loan company, over a week ago.

According to the officials, the three suspects — Suleman, Awais and Abdur Rehman — were arrested in Lahore.

“The suspects associated with online loan apps ‘Cash Gain’, ‘Easy Money’ and ‘Zamaatu Loan’ and ‘Quick Money’, etc. They were part of the recovery teams of these apps and blackmailed and harassed the people who would take loans.”

They said the suspects would also share doctored images of the victims shared with their relatives to blackmail them.

A case has been registered against the suspects under PECA Act, they said.

The FIA had also sealed the offices of five companies involved in this illegal activity in different parts of the country.

The agency has asked people to first check on the website of the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) whether a company or app offering loan is registered with it or not.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had also blocked over 40 loan apps not registered with the SECP.

Meanwhile, the FIA arrested a suspect, Faisal Mumtaz, for uploading objectionable pictures of a woman on social media.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2023