The Customs Court Rawalpindi on Tuesday asked the Customs prosecutor to produce evidence for filing of a money laundering case against model Ayyan Ali and adjourned the hearing till February 18.
Judge Rana Aftab, who resumed the foreign currency smuggling case against Ayyan Ali, asked how the court could order registration of the money laundering case against Ayyan when it was yet to be proved that the money laundering had occurred.
The court also rejected the request of prosecutor Amin Feroz for recording statements of witnesses, who were all present in the court. How could witnesses’ statements be recorded when the record was with Lahore High Court, the judge remarked.
Counsel for Ayyan Ali Lateef Khosa argued that the foreign currency possessed by her client when she was detained at Benazir International Airport, had been earned by her through legal means and not through stealing or corruption.
Khosa said that the Customs authorities played an ‘April Fools’ joke with the state on April 1, 2015, when the case against her was added to the anti-money laundering list.
The Customs counsel argued that it was not the first visit of Ayyan Ali to Dubai. She had, in fact, visited the United Arab Emirates for at least 41 times. She used to stay at Burj Khalifa and was caught at the BBIA with hundreds of thousands of dollars. A case under Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act should be registered against the model, he added.
Judge Rana Aftab remarked that the court was not interested in hearing stories. He instructed the prosecutor to present the case on legal grounds and with evidence. He said that currency smuggling had not yet been proved and the Customs officials wanted registration of money laundering case.
The judge ordered the Customs lawyers not to appear before the court unprepared.
Ayyan Ali was also present during the proceedings. She was arrested by Airport Security Force at the BBIA with $506,800 in March 2015.
Pakistan also need to investigate possible money laundering by former politician in Dubai.
Many in Dubai business community strongly believe that Al Attar Properties in Dubai is front for former corrupt Pakistanis politician and Indian Underworld who do not want to disclose their assets. For example some believe that Al Attar business tower in Dubai which was recently sold belonged to well known former Pakistani politician. Many layers of middle men and sophisticated financial schemes is involved.
Comments are closed.