KARACHI: A banking court on Thursday rejected bail applications from three suspects accused of using stolen credit cards numbers to buy goods online.

The court, headed by judge Akram Hussain Jaffri, refused to grant bail to Khurram Iftikhar Siddiqi and Faisal Qureshi, directors of the Fast-Track Computer Company, allegedly set up for the said fraud, and Naqi Abbas, the company’s clearing agent. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the court that the three accused had used credit cards of prominent foreign banks operating in Pakistan.

The judge said bail could not be granted to them because the crime was of international dimensions and had also victimised many people abroad. In the interim challan, the FIA has accused the three men of buying goods from computer software and hardware giants including Intel, Gateway and Compaq by using stolen numbers of credit cards issued in Pakistan by the Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank and local banks. The investigation officer said in the interim challan that the Standard Chartered had confirmed fake transactions worth Rs 1 million.

The FIA has seized computer merchandise worth more than Rs 4 million, including computer processors and motherboards.

The FIA busted the gang on December 20 after complaints from US customs authorities. According to the FIA, the suspects were buying goods online using stolen credit card numbers. The FIA has also included staff from some leading Pakistani hotels in the investigation to find out how the credit card numbers were stolen.

The case has been submitted to the Banking Court for Special Offences as credit cards were involved in the fake transactions and also because Pakistan lacks specific laws to deal with cyber-crime.