20 bank accounts involved in money laundering, benami transactions freezed

The court was told that the accounts were used to transact billions of rupees.

KARACHI (Dunya News) – A court in Karachi on Wednesday ordered to freeze 20 bank accounts, on a request by the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), for allegedly illicit transfer of foreign exchange, money laundering and benami transactions.

The court made the decision in light of apprehensions by the FIA that the funds available in the accounts might be transferred or withdrawn. The court was told that the accounts were used to transact billions of rupees within and outside the country.

Four members of a same family in Karachi, including Pervez Ali, his daughters Sara and Anum, and son Jibran, had allegedly transferred more than $400,000 abroad. A case has been lodged against them.

In the application, the investigating officer (IO) said that the family had opened eleven bank accounts in 2016 for the purpose of money laundering. He added that they had transferred a total of $494,500 so far.

According to the IO, one of the suspects, Zor Talib Khan, who is the proprietor of Salar Enterprise and Salar Mining, had opened six benami accounts from 2012 to 2017.

An account of another suspect, a resident of Nusrat Bhutto Colony, Muhammad Ibrahim, was found to have transacted a total of Rs454 million from July 1, 2015 until June 30, 2018.

Additionally, eight benami accounts, which were used for transactions of over Rs8 billion, are also included in the accounts. Four traders were accused of tax theft of over Rs1.26bn over the course of five years.

The investigation officer told the court that benami accounts were used for the business of paint shops, transporters, oil and spare parts.