Khanani and Kalia probe: 21 people, firms sent Rs356m abroad through illegal channels

Names surfaced during reinvestigation ordered by interior minister

LAHORE: A fresh investigation against Altaf Khanani – the director of the country’s largest money exchange firm Khanani and Kalia –  has unearthed the names of 21 individuals and companies who transferred money abroad using illegal Hawala and Hundi channels.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered a reinvestigation after Khanani gave a statement in the United States, where he was arrested and faced criminal proceedings. Khanani was sentenced to 68 months in prison and fined $250,000 by an anti-money laundering court.

The reinvestigation revealed that 21 people and firms sent as much as Rs356.2 million abroad through the illegal money transfer channels. Their names did not surface in the earlier probe. A Federal Investigation Agency officer said further investigations are under way and a case will be registered against these individuals once the process is complete.



According to documents available with the Express Investigation Cell, those who sent money abroad through Hawala and Hundi are Sara Abbas, Imran Ahmed, Itrat Ahmed, Shahzad, Rahila Rahmatullah Imlani, Akhtar Ali Abbasi, Ahmed Syed Irfan, Amir Quettawala, Amjad Ali, Channel Tech Karachi, Dr Altaf Ghaffar Piracha, Dawn Bread, Dania Enterprises Karachi, Haroon Chanda, Rashid Ali Malik, Naeem Munshi, Dr Haroon Siddiqui, M Qasim, M/S Murtuza Traders, Mubarak Ali, Marium Tareen and Muhammad Tariq.

Altaf Khanani was arrested by the US Drug Enforcement Administration in September last year in a secret operation. He is in jail since. He was arrested from Panama after he was charge-sheeted in June 2015 for 14 incidents of money laundering. He confessed in the US court.