Court restrains FIA from arresting Moonis till July 4

LAHORE:

A banking court on Monday granted interim bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Moonis Elahi in the money laundering case against him.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has accused him in a money laundering case of Rs24 billion.

The former federal minister was represented by Advocates Amjad Pervaiz and Amir Saeed Rawn.
The court was told that legal requirements were not met before the case was registered.

The complainant apprised the judge that the registration of the money laundering case against him was politically motivated. The counsel said that Moonis was implicated in the case and that he did not “control the companies” mentioned by the FIA.

The lawyer said that the PML-Q lawmaker was not involved in money laundering or any other such criminal activities.

Therefore, the lawyer said, an interim bail should be granted.

The court, while granting the bail, restrained authorities from arresting the former federal minister till July 4. It also sought a report from FIA at the next hearing.

Later, talking to reporters, Moonis said that he is acting on the directives of his lawyers. He also said that he would not talk about the case.

The PML-Q leader has contested the case as an attempt of political victimisation, saying that the law was being used against him like it had been done against his elders when “frivolous allegations” were made from time to time, but nothing could be proved before a court of law. His petition, therefore, alleged that the case was filed at the behest of the government.

The former federal minister maintained his innocence in the face of attempts to “blackmail” him and to silence his and his family’s voice.

Alleging mala fide intent behind the case, Moonis cited the political crisis in the province, adding that the case was an attempt at “political engineering”.

He also dismissed the report against him as “unlawful”, adding that FIA lacked jurisdiction in this regard. He further pointed out that those nominated in the case had not been public office holders.

The former federal minister pointed out that the case was registered without him being summoned, which itself points toward the mala fide intent.

He also ruled out the possibility of evidence being tampered or his family absconding in the face of money laundering allegations.

The former federal minister pointed out that he had voluntarily joined the investigation and had cooperated, adding that his arrest would not serve any purpose.

Case against Moonis
According to FIA’s first information report, the case against Moonis was registered on June 15.

The FIR said that the agency’s Anti-Corruption Circle in Lahore had registered an inquiry on August 7, 2020 pursuant to a report of the Sugar Inquiry Commission 2020. It said that in light of the report, the FIA was mandated by the federal government to probe financial and corporate frauds committed by various sugar mills, including Rahim Yar Khan (RYK)/Alliance Sugar Mills.

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"During the ongoing probe against RYK/Alliance Sugar Mills Group, it transpired that the following low-profile individuals — one of them had been at a very low level at the time — had jointly set up RYK Sugar Mills Ltd. in 2007/2008 at Rahim Yar Khan," the FIR stated. The FIR added that the mill was "set up ostensibly by laundering funds from unexplained sources, including proceeds of financial crimes".

It added that the mill's capital increased by Rs720 million in 2008 but the source for these funds, as well as those required for the acquisition of land, import of plants and machinery and administrative expenses, remained "unexplained".

 

Furthermore, the FIA said that the co-accused, Mazhar Abbas and Nawaz Bhatti (Naib Qasid), had been signatories of "multiple bank accounts with a turnover of approximately Rs24 billion".

“After passing through certain intermediaries (fictitious), 34.83 percent shares of RYK/Alliance were acquired by two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) while 9.56 percent shares were acquired by a nephew of Muhammad Khan Bhatti (presently an employee of the Punjab Assembly),” the FIR said, alleging both of the SPVs were controlled by Moonis – one directly and the other indirectly through his family member.

“This makes it evidently clear that accused M Nawaz Bhatti and Mazhar Abbas lent their identities and acted on behalf of Ch Moonis Elahi to disguise the origin and nature of ill-gotten proceeds used to set up RYK Mills Ltd,” it went on to allege.