The Lahore High Court (LHC) has confirmed the pre-arrest bail of an alleged human smuggler accused of defrauding a family by failing to fulfill his commitment of safely transporting them to New Zealand.

Justice Shehram Sarwar of the LHC heard the bail plea, during which the complainant’s counsel argued that the accused, Yaseen, had entered into an agreement in 2023 with complainant Saifullah to facilitate the immigration of his brother, Imran Ali, and two other family members, Ali Hamza and Ali Ahmad to New Zealand.

As per the agreement, Yaseen allegedly charged Rs2,900,000 per person, receiving a total of Rs8,700,000 through bank transactions.

To ensure credibility, he also provided two guarantee cheques for the same amount. However, instead of fulfilling his commitment, the accused allegedly sent Imran Ali to Thailand on a visit visa rather than facilitating his immigration to New Zealand.

Imran Ali spent five months in Thailand before returning home, realising that the agreement had been violated. Upon attempting to withdraw the guaranteed amount through the cheques, the complainant found that the cheques had bounced.

The defense counsel rejected claims that Yaseen had defrauded anyone, maintaining that his client was innocent and had been wrongfully implicated.