LAHORE: The owner of a prominent immigration consultancy was sentenced to a total 60-year jail term, along with a fine on Tuesday after being convicted in four cases of human smuggling and visa fraud.The sentence in each case will run concurrently.

The special court, Central-II, Lahore, after completing proceedings in four cases, convicted the accused, Zulqarnain Asad, who is the owner of the Global Citizenship Solutions (GCS), which offered services for immigration and jobs in European countries, Canada and Australia.

In the first case (177/2023), the court sentenced the accused to 15-year rigorous imprisonment (RI), along with a fine of Rs1.7 million.

In the second case (269/2023), the accused was awarded 15-year RI and a fine of Rs1m.

Similarly, in the third case (240/2023) Asad was handed down 15-year RI and a Rs1m fine, while in the fourth case (244/2023), the court awarded 15-year RI, along with a Rs1.2m fine.

“These sentences were made possible owing to the strong investigation conducted by the FIA and the effective prosecution by its legal team. The court accepted the evidence presented by FIA and announced the verdict accordingly,” an official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told Dawn.

FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar appreciated Lahore Director retired Capt Muhammad Ali Zia and the investigation team for presenting strong evidence against the accused, saying that such convictions serve as a deterrent against this heinous crime.

The FIA Lahore, in February 2023, had arrested Asad following a good number of people from Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Multan filed complaints of fraud of millions of rupees against him, on the pretext of immigration.

Initial investigation revealed that the GCS has extorted millions of rupees from a number of people aspiring for Canadian immigration, jobs in Australia and citizenship of European countries through investment.

Sensing it was a mega immigration/visa consultancy fraud in the country, the FIA high command had constituted a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the matter.

One of the complainants, Dawn spoke to, said that he contacted the GCS Lahore for immigration to Canada and initially paid over Rs1.1 million for its services.

“The GCS team told me that it followed the legitimate immigration process that was entirely transparent and according to IRCC Canada. Instead, it sent me fake screenshots of the portal, and nominations from British Columbia Canada, ITA & AOR. Despite numerous visits to GCS and meetings with their associates to verify the above-mentioned (bogus) documents, they always denied verification,” he said.

“This fraud has shattered me psychologically. I am having depression and also under a large debt,” says the victim, who is a qualified professional and did IELTS for this purpose.

Interestingly, at least two top female models, an actor/host and a former Test cricketer have endorsed the services of the GCS as ‘the best’ on its online page. The GCS had offices in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

There has been no word from the FIA about compensating the victims of GCS fraud after selling its properties.

This case turned out to be like that of Future Concerns Ltd (a known visa consultancy firm), whose owners — Asim Malik and his wife – have been absconding in the United Kingdom since 2013. The couple allegedly made billions through fraud.

The firm had defrauded a large number of Pakistanis on the pretext of securing immigration and visas for the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries for them.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2026