FIA reveals all MQM lawmakers travelled on KKF funds

KKF cheated people as 80% of its funds were utilised for personal gains, law officer tells court

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC-II) reserved the verdict after listening to the arguments given by Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) law officer over the bail plea filed by former senator Ahmed Ali in the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) money laundering case.

The investigation officer, Aijaz Sheikh, and FIA’s Assistant Director and law officer, Bakhtiyar Ahmed Channa, appeared before the court.

Law officer Bakhtiyar Channa maintained that Ahmed Ali has been involved in money laundering, therefore, his bail should be cancelled. He said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders have allegedly committed money laundering of Rs410 million through 95 carriers. He said that every MQM minister and MPA took up to £5,000 with them to London in 2012. All the expenses of ministers and MPAs travelling to and from London were met with the KKF funds.



He further said that former senator Ahmed Ali transferred £1.4 million to an account in a private bank in 2014. Rs500 million were transferred to the accounts of MQM members from KKF account between 2009 and 2017. Ahmed Ali played a major role in money laundering and other forgeries, Channa said, adding that he became the trustee by getting elevated illegally from the post of KKF’s director and then he started sending money to the MQM founder in London from the year 2010. The complete expense of London Secretariat was paid with the money sent from Karachi after a resolution approved in 2014.

The money laundering through KKF’s accounts started in 2010 when Rs310 million were collected for KKF and out of them, Rs280 million were sent to London. All the money used to be transferred to the personal account under Ahmed Ali’s name.



Khwaja Rehan Mansoor bought the foreign currency worth Rs250 million and his wife bought pounds worth Rs360 million and the State Bank of Pakistan declared their accounts suspicious and asked FIA to start investigation against them, said Channa.

He further added that there was no record regarding the purchase of £1.4m by Khwaja Sohail Mansoor. KKF purchased shrouds for Rs30m from 2013 to 2015 but no record of this purchase was available.

The court reserved the verdict after the completion of FIA’s law officer’s arguments and said that the interim bail verdict will be announced today (Friday).

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2019.