LONDON: A senior district judge on Thursday refused to grant bail to a Karachi-based businessman arrested last month on a US request.

Jabir Siddiq Motiwala was arrested by the extradition unit of Metropolitan Police on Aug 17 allegedly for conspiring to launder money into the United States and use force to extort funds.

Over the past five weeks, it’s the second time that the suspect’s bail application has been rejected.

Mr Motiwala is a senior member of an organised crime syndicate, prosecution lawyer Ben Lloyd said in arguments at the start of the bail hearing.

He maintained that Mr Motiwala helped the syndicate launder 1.4 million dollars of drug money and conspired to use threat for debt collection to the tune of 80,000 dollars. He said these allegations had been supported by multiple proofs.

Opposing the bail application, Ben Llyod said the suspect was a Pakistani national with Jabir Siddiq as one of his names which was mentioned on the passport on which he travelled to the UK. He stated that though his passport had been seized by the police, it couldn’t be said for sure whether he had no other passports, making him a flight risk.

Barrister James Lewis QC, representing Jabir Motiwala, said that whatever had been presented in the court were mere allegations and without any solid proof.

“I regret the way in which the case is dealt with by the prosecution. My client is a man of impeccable character and an established stock broker in Pakistan,” he said in his opening remarks.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2018