Javed Khanani falls to his death
Khanani was visiting Saima Tower, the under construction apartment building he owned in Muhammad Ali Society
KARACHI:
Javed Khanani, a director of Khanani and Kalia International money changers, died in a mysterious fall from a multi-storey under construction apartment building Sunday afternoon. Family and police described the death as possible suicide.
Khanani was visiting Saima Tower, the under construction apartment building he owned in Muhammad Ali Society. “He quietly entered the building and ascended to the 8th floor without meeting anyone from where he fell off. We’ve found his cellphone, glasses and slippers on the 8th floor,” said Gulshan-e-Iqbal SP Fahad Ahmed.
“We were having lunch when we heard a thud outside as if something had fallen to the ground from some height,” one of the labourers working at the building said. “We rushed outside and saw Javed bleeding from his ears and eyes,” he added.
A street vendor who witnessed the incident said Javed fell onto electrical wires before hitting the ground. He added that bystanders who gathered around Javed rushed him to the hospital.
According to SP Fahad, the incident appears to be a suicide. “We wanted Javed’s family to cooperate with the police investigation, but they took his body from the hospital five minutes after he was pronounced dead with the cause determined as a fall from the building,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Liaquat National Hospital, Anjum Rizvi also confirmed that he was brought dead and was taken by his family right after doctors confirmed his death.
“Post mortems play an important role in such cases, but the family said they do not want any further investigation as they believe it may be a suicide or just an accident,” SP Fahad said. He added that despite attempts to persuade the family otherwise, they buried Javed without a post mortem.
He said police are currently investigating his partners – who were in a nearby office at the time of the incident – and the labourers working on the building.
Speaking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, a senior police investigator said it was unlikely the incident was an accident. “We are looking into the murder and suicide angles at the moment,” he said.
SSP East Faisal Chachar said police have learned that Javed was going through severe depression in the days leading to the incident. He said the case will be investigated from multiple angles, including suicide. He added that investigation has begun and police are geo-fencing the area.
Javed Khanani and Munaf Kalia were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a dramatic raid in November 2008 when a complaint lodged against one of their franchises in Gujranwala led to the discovery of a parallel money transfer system being operated by their company — KKI — for purposes of transferring money out of the country through illegal hundi/hawala channels.
Their arrest sparked much speculation that their company was largely responsible for the massive flight of capital that took place from Pakistan in those days, putting serious pressure on the exchange rate and prompting an emergency appeal from the government to the International Monetary Fund.
Their company reportedly carried out 40 per cent of all money exchange transactions in the country at the time, according to the FIA officials.
Multiple cases were registered against them in Karachi, Lahore and Abbottabad, for running a hundi/hawala operation, among other affiliated charges.
In January 2015, Javed Khanani was charged again by the FIA in a fresh hundi/hawala transaction discovered after all the original cases against them were finished.
He was held briefly in custody, along with his manager, before being released on bail.
Javed’s brother, Altaf Khanani, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges before a United States court in November 2016 and was facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison plus a fine of $250,000.
Altaf Khanani was arrested in September last year following a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and has been in jail ever since.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2016.
Javed Khanani, a director of Khanani and Kalia International money changers, died in a mysterious fall from a multi-storey under construction apartment building Sunday afternoon. Family and police described the death as possible suicide.
Khanani was visiting Saima Tower, the under construction apartment building he owned in Muhammad Ali Society. “He quietly entered the building and ascended to the 8th floor without meeting anyone from where he fell off. We’ve found his cellphone, glasses and slippers on the 8th floor,” said Gulshan-e-Iqbal SP Fahad Ahmed.
“We were having lunch when we heard a thud outside as if something had fallen to the ground from some height,” one of the labourers working at the building said. “We rushed outside and saw Javed bleeding from his ears and eyes,” he added.
A street vendor who witnessed the incident said Javed fell onto electrical wires before hitting the ground. He added that bystanders who gathered around Javed rushed him to the hospital.
According to SP Fahad, the incident appears to be a suicide. “We wanted Javed’s family to cooperate with the police investigation, but they took his body from the hospital five minutes after he was pronounced dead with the cause determined as a fall from the building,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Liaquat National Hospital, Anjum Rizvi also confirmed that he was brought dead and was taken by his family right after doctors confirmed his death.
“Post mortems play an important role in such cases, but the family said they do not want any further investigation as they believe it may be a suicide or just an accident,” SP Fahad said. He added that despite attempts to persuade the family otherwise, they buried Javed without a post mortem.
He said police are currently investigating his partners – who were in a nearby office at the time of the incident – and the labourers working on the building.
Speaking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, a senior police investigator said it was unlikely the incident was an accident. “We are looking into the murder and suicide angles at the moment,” he said.
SSP East Faisal Chachar said police have learned that Javed was going through severe depression in the days leading to the incident. He said the case will be investigated from multiple angles, including suicide. He added that investigation has begun and police are geo-fencing the area.
Javed Khanani and Munaf Kalia were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a dramatic raid in November 2008 when a complaint lodged against one of their franchises in Gujranwala led to the discovery of a parallel money transfer system being operated by their company — KKI — for purposes of transferring money out of the country through illegal hundi/hawala channels.
Their arrest sparked much speculation that their company was largely responsible for the massive flight of capital that took place from Pakistan in those days, putting serious pressure on the exchange rate and prompting an emergency appeal from the government to the International Monetary Fund.
Their company reportedly carried out 40 per cent of all money exchange transactions in the country at the time, according to the FIA officials.
Multiple cases were registered against them in Karachi, Lahore and Abbottabad, for running a hundi/hawala operation, among other affiliated charges.
In January 2015, Javed Khanani was charged again by the FIA in a fresh hundi/hawala transaction discovered after all the original cases against them were finished.
He was held briefly in custody, along with his manager, before being released on bail.
Javed’s brother, Altaf Khanani, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges before a United States court in November 2016 and was facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison plus a fine of $250,000.
Altaf Khanani was arrested in September last year following a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and has been in jail ever since.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2016.