–Court orders authorities to arrest and present the supermodel in front of the court by February 15
RAWALPINDI: A customs court in Rawalpindi declared supermodel Ayyan Ali a proclaimed offender in the currency smuggling case and ordered the authorities to arrest and present her before the court by February 15.
The court rejected the appeals filed by the supermodel and cancelled the surety bonds submitted for her bail while sending notices to the guarantors to appear before the court in the next hearing.
The directives were issued by Judge Arshad Bhutta who heard the case over Ayyan Ali’s application seeking the disposal of the case against her, suspension of the arrest warrants and permanent exemption from appearing before the court. The judge dismissed the supermodel’s application and directed the authorities to arrest and present her before the court by February 15.
On January 18, the court had reserved its verdict on three appeals. Ayyan had sought retraction of the arrest warrants, forgiving her for non-appearance and for having two trials in the same case in her pleas. The court later ordered her to appear before the court and stated that a process to declare her a proclaimed offender would be initiated if she failed to comply with the court’s orders.
In March 2015, $506,000 were recovered from the model’s possession when she was arrested from Islamabad airport while departing for Dubai. In November 2015, the model was indicted under the charges of attempting to smuggle the money out of the country but she pleaded not guilty. However, she was granted bail on July 16 after she had served four months in jail.
The model was also later nominated in a case concerning the murder of a customs official who was investigating the money laundering case against her. The interior ministry had also placed Ali on the Exit Control List (ECL) but the courts later directed that her name from the list be removed.
