Currency smuggling case against Ayyan Ali adjourned without hearing

RAWALPINDI: The hearing of currency smuggling case against model Ayyan Ali adjourned till April 06 due to absence of the trial judge, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The onlookers thronged at Rawalpindi Customs Court when Ayyan Ali, in goggles and wearing overcoat, arrived with her advocate Barrister Latif Khosa at the court premises.

The trial court in previous hearing of the case, had ordered the model girl to appear in the court at any cost on Saturday (today) after her absence in the past three hearings.

The investigation official and prosecutor of the customs department were also present in the court but trial judge Shiraz Kiani was on leave, which was resulted in adjournment of the case without proceedings.

The counsels of Ayyan Ali in previous hearing had informed the court that their client could not appear in the court and was busy in another case pending in Lahore High Court.

The court had granted exemption to the model and ordered her to appear in the next hearing at any cost.

A customs court in Nov 2015 indicted Ayyan for attempting to smuggle more than half a million dollars in cash out of the country, to which she had pleaded not guilty.

The model was arrested on March 14, 2015, on charges of money laundering after customs officials recovered $506,000 from her luggage at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport before she could reportedly board a flight to Dubai.

She was granted bail in July last year after spending around four months in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.