The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Islamabad Zone has arrested an alleged education fraudster accused of duping students with fake overseas scholarships and detained three suspects accused of issuing forged medico-legal certificates at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Hospital in two separate operations.

In the first case, the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle arrested a suspect from Sialkot for allegedly deceiving students through an agency operating under the name “Broadway Consultancy”, according to the agency.

The FIA said that the suspect promised admission to the University of Nevada, Reno and Higher Education Commission (HEC)-funded PhD scholarships, collecting $10,000 from each victim.

Investigators alleged that the suspect provided forged documents bearing the name of the HEC, Pakistan’s higher education regulator. The documents were later verified by the HEC and declared fake, the agency said.

FIA registered an FIR under the Pakistan Penal Code.

In a separate operation, the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle carried out a trap raid at PIMS Hospital in Islamabad on July 21.

According to the FIA, an officer posed as an injured person and paid marked currency as an advance to obtain a fake Medico-Legal Certificate (MLC), an official medical document commonly used as evidence in criminal investigations. The suspects were then arrested during the operation.

FIA alleged that the group issued fake MLCs in exchange for bribes, which were subsequently used to register false cases at police stations across Islamabad.

Where no injuries existed, the suspects allegedly inflicted superficial cuts and stitched them to produce fraudulent medical records.

The agency said Mohammad Usman, a lower division clerk (LDC) at the Medico-Legal Office, was arrested while allegedly receiving Rs50,000 in marked currency. On his identification, a medico-legal officer and ward boy Rameez Akhtar were also taken into custody.

FIA said that it seized old records of fake MLCs and recovered mobile phone data, including chats and banking transactions, during the investigation.

An FIR was registered under the Pakistan Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.

The court granted a three-day physical remand for the two male suspects, while the medico-legal officer was remanded to judicial custody. Further investigation is underway.