PESHAWAR, Sept 8: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a bogus recruitment agent here on Wednesday, said a senior official. Assistant Director of FIA, Inamullah Khan Gandapur, told Dawn that they had arrested Hamayun Khan Mohmand of Khan Traders on charges of fleecing innocent people promising them jobs in foreign countries.

Khan Traders, the illegal recruitment agency, used to have advertisements published in newspapers announcing jobs in the United Kingdom, Mr Gandapur said. Hamayun Khan allegedly charged each job-seeker Rs1,500 as registration fee, said another FIA official, Mr Jehanzeb, who headed the team that had raided the recruitment agency.

The recruitment agency told the job-seekers that it would take the actual fee from their salaries they would receive from their employers in the UK, the official said. The job-seekers were also asked to fill in a form and submit Rs1,500 as registration fee, he said.

The recruitment agency also asked the job-seekers to sign an affidavit saying that the company had not taken any money from them, he added. Mr Jehanzeb said that the FIA recovered more then 200 stamp papers from the office of Khan Traders.