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December 05, 2008
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Friday
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Zilhaj 6, 1429
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‘Bigwigs’ involved in money scam: Malik: Action against top politicians, bureaucrats likely
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik said here on Thursday that the government would unveil the names of all ‘bigwigs’ involved in the country’s biggest financial scam in which over Rs104 billion has been sent abroad through Hawala.
“Names of some important personalities are also coming up in investigation and they will also be disclosed when time comes,” Mr Malik said at a press conference.
“Anyone involved in the scam will be taken to task,” he said, indicating that some top politicians and bureaucrats might be involved in sending money aboard through illegal channels.
Responding to a question, he expressed the fear that the money smuggled to Afghanistan might had been used for terrorist activities.
He said 11 cases had been registered during the investigation, two each in FIA’s Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi zones and five in the Peshawar zone.
“All the accused, including Rustam Ali Khan, Tariq Mehmood, Javed Khanani and Munaf Kalia, were arrested and remanded in judicial custody by the court,” he said.
The financial scam was unearthed last month when offices of Khanani and Kalia were sealed and their heads were arrested.
Niyamat Mirza, the owner of Duniya Enterprises in Gujranwala, has also been arrested for links with Khanani and Kalia.
Mr Malik said that the investigation indicated that so far Rs104 billion had been transmitted through Hawala in 543,510 transactions at Karachi from 2005 to 2006.
The deciphering of a computer server by forensic experts pertaining to June and July 2008 had revealed that 34,821,427 dollars, 678,809 pounds sterling, 1,896,399 yens had been sent abroad, he said.
He said that foreign currency sent illegally out of Pakistan during the period amounted to $45 million.
He said that 17 computers were taken into custody, but the FIA had decoded only three.
Giving full credit to the FIA team for deciphering information from computers of the exchange company, he said that due to the action by the FIA the flow of foreign exchange had swelled by millions through official channels during the past month and the rupee had appreciated against the US dollar.
Responding to a question about stopping Hawala business, he said a legislation was being drafted to restrict movement of money across the country.
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