FIA cracks down on hundi network in Karachi, arrests two suspects

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has intensified its crackdown against money laundering and seized currency worth Rs9.2 million, laptops besides arresting two suspects during a raid at an alleged hundi network in Karachi, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The director of FIA Sindh chapter, Munir Ahmed Shaikh, said that a hundi network was unearthed by the intel agency during a raid in Karachi’s Kharadar area.

The raiding team confiscated Rs9.2 million worth currency, five mobile phones, three laptops and transaction records including slips, cheque books with signatures and stamps.

Shaikh said that the culprits have laundered money worth million through illegal sources, whereas, more raids are being carried out to arrest their accomplices.

The FIA Sindh director detailed that 20 deposit slips, 100 receipts of different banks, 15 cheque books, 50 open cheques with signatures and rubber stamps of 10 companies from the possession of the suspects. Moreover, the officials have also gotten important information from the mobile phones of the detained suspects.

A case has been filed against the accused persons for running a hundi network.

Earlier on Tuesday, the FIA team had carried out a raid in Gulzar-e-Hijri area of the city to arrest an accused identified as Naqash for his involvement in Hawala and Hundi activities.

However, the intel agency’s Corporate Crime Circle had failed in its bid to arrest the man for transferring millions of rupees via Hawala and Hundi channels from the country on daily basis.

“We recovered a huge cache of national and foreign currency from his house during the raid,” said the Director FIA Zone Sindh Munir Ahmed Shaikh.

He said that other than Chinese, Saudi, United States (US) Dollars and other foreign currencies, Rs 2,072,000 cash was also recovered during the raid.

We have also successfully recovered records of Hawala and Hundi transactions from his phone, said Munir Shaikh adding that it showed a money trail of Rs 19 million received in terms of illegal transfers on Tuesday, followed by a record of Rs 22 million transactions on Monday.