KARACHI: An antiterrorism court was informed on Saturday that the Federal Investigation Agency wanted forensic audit to determine actual “ownership and use” of the vehicles owned by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s charity wing, the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation (KKF).

This was disclosed in a letter submitted by an FIA prosecutor to the ATC-II, which is hearing an alleged money laundering case registered against MQM’s London-based founder Altaf Hussain and others.

The MQM chief along with other party leaders, former federal minister Babar Ghauri, former senator Ahmed Ali, now Karachi’s Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Khawaja Rehan, has been booked in a case pertaining to alleged money laundering to the tune of Rs1.32 billion.

On Saturday, a prosecutor submitted before the judge that a letter had been written by the FIA to the provincial excise and taxation department seeking their nod to conduct the audit of the 48 vehicles owned by the KKF.

It further stated that the exercise was aimed at determining the actual ownership of the vehicles, majority of which are hi-roofs, of which two are in Punjab and one in Hyderabad.

It further stated that the excise department had also been restrained from transferring these vehicles’ ownership to anyone. It concluded that a team, headed by FIA director Aijaz Shaikh, had been formed to determine as to how many people used these vehicles and for what purpose. The court is scheduled to take up the matter soon.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2019