ISLAMABAD: Officials from Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and Airport Security Force (ASF) on Thursday told a parliamentary committee that a senior officer in the staff of former president Asif Zardari had strongly protested when supermodel Ayyan Ali was arrested on charges of money laundering in 2015.
Briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, a top official of ASF told the committee that security agencies often face hindrances in their work due to political pressure.
He said they had a video of Ayyan Ali which reveals that an “important officer” from the previous government acted as her facilitator. The ASF official added that the officer in question made the most noise when the model was arrested. The security agencies were told that the money was being sent to a mosque, he claimed.
Ayyan Ali was stopped at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport on March 14, 2015 before reportedly boarding a flight to Dubai. She was arrested on charges of money laundering after customs officials recovered $506,000 from her luggage.
In November 2015, Ayyan pleaded guilty when she was indicted for attempting to smuggle more than half a million dollars in cash out of the country.
Ayyan’s name was also put on the Exit Control List which was finally lifted in February this year by the Interior Ministry, after which she was able to fly out of the country.
