Pakistani YouTuber Rajab Butt questioned over online gambling

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Pakistani content creator Rajab Butt is to be questioned by cybercrime authorities over allegations that he promoted online gambling and trading applications.

According to local media reports, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency has summoned Butt to appear before investigators in Lahore.

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In a notice issued last week, the agency accused the TikTok and YouTube influencer of running financial scams, encouraging young people to invest in unregistered platforms, and of creating what it described as “an orchestrated scheme for looting innocent people’s hard-earned income”.

The influencer has been ordered to appear before the Agency’s Assistant Director Shoaib Riaz, with a warning that failure to appear would be treated as a forfeiture of his right to defend himself.

Butt, who has one of the country’s largest digital followings, has faced controversy before, including criticism over briefly keeping a lion cub as a pet. His lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq confirmed that the case was being reviewed and said a written response would be submitted shortly.

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“Rajab Butt’s case is being reviewed from all aspects and will be fully defended according to the law,” he told Dawn.com.

The summons follows the arrest of fellow YouTuber Saadur Rehman, known as Ducky Bhai, at Lahore airport last month on similar allegations of promoting gambling apps.

Last month, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency also named 46 apps illegal after it was found that they offered unregulated gambling.

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