On August 17, 2025 Pakistan’s social media star Saad-ur-Rehman was arrested at Lahore international airport while trying to leave the country. Investigation agency of The National Cyber Crime against him under sections 13 (Electronic Forgery), 14 (Electronic Fraud), 25 (Spamming) and 26 (Spoofing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 as well as sections 294 B (Offering prize in connection with trade) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducting delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code, for promoting banned gambling applications. After Rehman was sent to the jail his team plea for the bail on a judicial remand on September 9, 2025.
During the bail proceedings, Advocate Chaudhry Usman Ali, representing Rehman, forcefully asserted that the authorities had grossly mishandled the investigation. The counsel challenged the prosecution’s narrative, stating they had utterly failed to provide credible proof that Rehman acted as the country manager for the betting application Binomo. Ali further undermined the complaint’s legitimacy by pointing out that the application was only banned after his client’s arrest, calling the entire case “frivolous” and lacking any substantive merit.
Court denied Rehman’s bail plea, further intensifying the controversy. His wife Aroob Jatoi and manager Subhan are co-accused with Aroob summoned to appear in court on November 3, 2025. Both maintain they had no knowledge of the app’s fraudulent nature and insist they are being wrongly Implicated
The state’s counsel, Zaina Zaheer, delivered a sharp rebuttal, asserting that the country’s complete ban on gambling supersedes the status of any specific application. Zaheer revealed that the investigation had yielded irrefutable proof from Rehman’s seized electronic devices—a laptop and two mobile phones. This evidence, including voice chats with Binomo officials, conclusively ties the YouTuber to the banned application. Furthermore, the prosecution spotlighted a staggering sum of $326,420 recovered from one of Rehman’s accounts, which they claim was directly provided to him for illegally promoting these forbidden platforms.
Magistrate Wattoo stated that a resounding rejection of the bail plea, noting that the defendant had failed to deny his connection to the applications or offer any plausible, alternate explanation for the recovered fun.ds. The magistrate asserted that the technical reports alone were overwhelming proof of Rehman’s links to illegal platforms. Emphasizing the serious ethical breach, Wattoo stated that because millions of young people followed him, Rehman’s “bad advice” had a profound and damaging impact. The ruling served as a stark warning to social media influencers regarding the gravity of their promotions, concluding that Rehman’s actions could not be treated with casual indifference.
