Officials say the identity of a suspect accused of defrauding Laiba Ejaz, a student who won a gold medal at the International Islamic University Islamabad, has been partially established. The case drew attention after the student died by suicide in Islamabad, which relatives linked to the alleged fraud by an education consultant.
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Shehzad Bukhari said a woman was also allegedly involved. He said the main suspect, Noman, had wrongly claimed to be an accountant at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and was neither an agent nor a study consultant.
FIA places suspects on stop list
Bukhari said the names of the suspects had been added to a stop list, and investigators had obtained Noman’s data. He added that teams had been sent out to arrest them.
Family says savings and land went to consultant
Laiba’s maternal uncle said she had hoped to study in the US and become a scientist. She approached a consultancy in Islamabad’s Blue Area, where a man identified as Noman offered to arrange a scholarship. Under the proposal, the family would cover 20 percent of the costs and the university the remaining 80 percent.
After the family submitted the required documents, they were told the scholarship had been approved. The uncle said the consultant learned the family had savings of roughly Rs1.2 to 1.3 million and persuaded them to hand it over. Later, they were told a bank statement was needed under new rules, so they sold a plot of land and transferred Rs4 million to the consultant’s account.
