Money-laundering case: FBR seeks permission to probe Ayyan’s sources of income

Says as a frequent flyer, she should be aware of case restrictions for travel.


Rizwan Shehzad May 28, 2016
Says as a frequent flyer, she should be aware of case restrictions for travel.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued a notice to model Ayyan Ali on a petition of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) seeking permission to determine the model’s sources of income.

IHC judge Athar Minallah issued a notice to Ali while hearing the FBR’s intra-court appeal.

The FBR’s directorate of intelligence and investigation (DII) through its superintendent Zahoor Ahmad Mughal has filed a petition to investigate the source of the $506,800 Ali had with her, given that “she does not pay any income tax” in Pakistan.

The petitioner has challenged a verdict of the Special Judge Customs, Taxation and Anti Smuggling dated March 30, which declined the FBR’s request to investigate her financials. The FBR has said that the money recovered from Ali was tainted unless proven otherwise.

The FBR said that Ali has allegedly committed an offence of smuggling, which was a predicate offence under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010. It added that her assertion that a transaction for sale and purchase of property in Pakistan was made in US dollars was very odd.

Moreover, it said, there was reason to believe that the foreign currency was actually criminal proceeds, as the true source of the seized currency had yet to be determined.

The petition said that Ali was a frequent international traveller as evident from her travel history and being a frequent flyer, she should have been fully aware of the prohibitions and restrictions on taking out large sums of foreign currency without legal authority.

The FBR also raises a point on whether the law provides blanket immunity to the source of financing, or, in the light of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010, the accused bears the evidential burden to establish legal sources of financing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2016.

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