Money laundering charges: State Bank of Pakistan challenges indictment of its two officials

Bank says case was initiated without verifying identity of complainant

ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has challenged the Supreme Court’s order to indict two of its officials for violating its 2006 judgment in a case relating to money laundering.

A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan on April 28, had decided to frame charges of money laundering against four officials, namely Second Secretary FBR Dr Sadiqullah, Joint Director Exchange Policy Department SBP Aftab Iqbal Siddiqui, Director SBP Syed Samad Hussain and Additional Collectors Customs Abdur Razzaq. The proceedings were initiated by former chief justice Nasirul Mulk based on an anonymous letter.

The SBP through its counsel Khawaja Muhammad Farooq has submitted an intra-court appeal (ICA) against the court’s April 28 order to indict two of its officials.

The SBP also pointed out that it is normal practice of the superior courts not to rely on anonymous complaints without first verifying the identity of the complainant and correctness of the contents of complaint, adding that no such exercise was undertaken before issuing notices to the bank’s executives.

The SBP has also contended that there is no violation of the court’s order in the present case and no contempt case is made out under the provisions of section 3 of contempt of courts ordinance 2003.

Rules bent over

In Aug 2006, a passenger Allah Bakhsh was arrested at the Islamabad Airport while traveling to Beijing for trying to smuggle out $100,000 and 2,600 Chinese Yuan. The customs department confiscated the amount and registered money laundering charges. Special Judge Customs Rawalpindi on May 29, 2010 had awarded Allah Bash five years jail terms with a fine of Rs500, 000.

The anonymous letter to the chief justice pointed out that in 2010, FBR and SBP notified rules in a manner which not only allowed Allah Bakhsh to walk free but also led to him being returned the money that was seized.

The letter alleged that the special treatment was meted out to Allah Bakhsh at the behest of the then prime minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2016.