Fairfax Police have arrested 44-year-old Imtiaz Rauf, a Gainesville resident, and charged him with sexual battery after an investigation revealed that he used a Craigslist job listing to lure women into fake interviews.
Add it to the list of reasons not to trust anything on Craigslist ... Fairfax Police have charged Imtiaz Rauf with one count of sexual battery, but as more victims come forward, detectives say that more charges could be on the way. The scheme was actually pretty simple. Imtiaz Rauf posted a job listing on Craigslist looking for an administrative assistant. The advertisement listed the interview location as a mostly-vacant office building in the 12000 block of Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston, Virginia. When at least one female applicant arrived, she was then sexually assaulted by Rauf.We are asking people to take a look at his photo, take a look at the name if that sounds familiar to you,” said Fairfax County Police Officer Reem Awad in a statement. “These ads were on Craigslist. There is more than one ad. They were advertising a position for an administrative assistant, and they were asked to come to a certain location for an interview."Because there were multiple ad listings, police fear that there could be more victims out there. Currently, they are investigating at least two additional cases that might be connected.
Police are urging the public to take a good look at Imtiaz Rauf's photograph and think about whether any of the details in this case sound familiar.
"If that sounds familiar to someone, even it wasn’t you, but someone you know -- a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor," Awad continued, "we do want to hear about it and we want to try to find out how many cases we really have.”
Imtiaz Rauf is a registered sex offender, though he is not formally listed as a violent sex offender on the Virginia State Police Department's registry. In 2011, he was convicted in Montgomery County, Maryland, on charges of sexual solicitation of a minor.
Fairfax Police are currently offering a reward of between $100 and $1,000 for any information that sheds light on additional cases of these predatory crimes. If you know anything about this case or scam that you think might be helpful, you are encouraged to contact Fairfax Police Detective T. Horton at 703-246-7800.
