Money laundering case: Model’s remand extended till July 13

Ayyan Ali says she is being subjected to character assassination by linking her with political personality

A customs court on Monday extended model Ayyan Ali’s judicial remand in the money laundering case till July 13.

This was the 14th time the model was sent on judicial remand since her arrest from Benazir Bhutto International Airport with $500,000 on May 14, 2015.

It was also the first time Ayyan spoke in court, pleading her innocence. She said the money was legal and belonged to her. Claiming she never intended to take the money abroad, Ali said she had to hand over the amount to her brother who was arriving at the Islamabad airport from Dubai the same evening.

She said linking her to a political leader was “cheap”. “I have no link with any political leader,” she told Customs Judge Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan.

Read: Ayyan Ali case : Charge-sheet to be presented today

The model said she was being denied her basic rights as suspects arrested for laundering Rs25 crore and Rs16 crore were granted bail but her bail applications have been rejected.

Ali's bail petitions have been rejected twice, once each by the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench and Lahore High Court.

She said if granted bail, she would not run away from the country. Pakistan is my country, I will stay here and prove my innocence, she said.

The model said she being subjected to character assassination and announced to sue the people doing so. She spoke for 14 minutes and handed over a copy of her statement to the court.

Earlier, at the start of the hearing, customs officials presented a charge-sheet against the suspect. Ali’s counsel, former Punjab governor and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sardar Latif Khosa, however, objected to the charge-sheet saying the suspect could not be charged since the defence team had not been provided a copy of the charges.

Read: LHC rejects supermodel Ayyan's bail plea

He maintained that a suspect could be charged at least after seven days of providing copies of a complete challan to the defence.

The court accepted Khosa’s point and adjourned the case till July 13 when the model will be formally charged.

Khosa also maintained that his client intended to hand over the amount to her brother at the airport. He claimed that Ayyan had not even got the boarding pass or clearance from Customs when she was arrested.

The counsel informed that a new bail application had been filed with the Lahore High Court, which a divisional LHC bench will take up on Tuesday.

Hearing into the Customs application to lodge a new money laundering case against the model has also been adjourned till July 11.

Ayyan refuses to see her father

Ayyan Ali once again refused to meet her father Raja Hafeez who had come to the court on Monday.  The model’s counsel requested the court to ask Hafeez to leave the courtroom.

Hafeez said he wanted to meet his daughter but the judge said Ali had submitted a written statement saying she did not want to meet him. The judge asked her again whether she wanted to meet her father, to which she said no.  The judge then asked Hafeez to leave the courtroom.