LAHORE: A judicial magistrate at Model Town Courts on Monday sent Latif Centre Ichhra’s jeweller Wasim Akhtar to jail on judicial remand in a case of alleged swindling of 20 kilograms of gold.

A joint investigation team (JIT) presented the suspect before the magistrate on expiry of his physical remand.

A state prosecutor stated that the interrogation with the suspect had been completed and his further physical custody was not required.

At this, Magistrate Ahmad Saeed sent the suspect to jail on judicial remand for 14 days.

The fraud surfaced in the second week of December 2025 when several jewellers of Latif Centre came to know that Waseem had disappeared suddenly with 20kg gold worth over Rs1 billion they had “invested” with him for decades.

However, the police had arrested the absconding jeweller from Islamabad during the last week of January.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026