ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued notice to supermodel Ayyan Ali on a petition filed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) seeking the court approval to investigate the financial source of the $506,800 which she allegedly intended to smuggle abroad.

The FBR directorate of intelligence and investigation through its superintendent, Zahoor Ahmad Mughal, in the petition contended that the model girl did not pay any tax related to the amount.

The counsel for the FBR adopted before the court that the investigation team in the currency smuggling case wanted to know Ayyan’s source of income as prima facie it also appeared a matter of tax evasion.

He said the FBR had filed a petition with the special court customs, excise and taxation seeking the registration of a case against Ayyan under the Anti Money Laundering Act which he claimed was wrongly rejected. The registration of a case would have enabled the investigation team to trace the source of income of the model girl.

After the preliminary hearing, Justice Athar Minallah of the IHC issued notice to Ayyan and adjourned the hearing till a date to be fixed by the registrar office.

In the petition, the FBR took exception to the judgment of the special judge customs, excise and taxation dated March 30, 2016, saying whether the law provided blanket immunity to the source of financing.

The petition added that the proceeds of the money recovered from Ayyan were tainted unless proven otherwise. In the challan submitted to the court of the special judge, it was submitted with documentary evidence that the accused sold properties to an unknown buyer through a Bahria Town representative, Najeeb Haroon, on March 13, 2015. But Bahria Town deputy chief executive A. R. K. Nasir through a letter dated May 13, 2015, told the investigation that no record of the property was found and Najeeb Haroon was also not their representative.

The petition said Ayyan’s source of $506,800 was still unknown and it required a probe, especially when the accused also never filed any income tax returns.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2016