LAHORE: Businessman Sabir Hameed alias Sabir Mithu, a relative of a high-profile figure, on Monday did not appear before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a money laundering probe.

According to officials, Sabir Mithu skipped the FIA hearing and instead sent his lawyer to seek more time to join the investigation.

The FIA anti-money laundering circle Lahore had issued a call-up notice to Mithu saying, “This is in pursuant to an ongoing criminal investigation in this agency on the allegation of high volume suspicious transactions into your bank accounts contrary to the declared business profile.”

It further says, “It has come to fore that you are maintaining 19 bank accounts (14 of rupee and five of foreign currency) with the aggregate credit turnover of Rs5.34 billion during the course of inquiry and perusal of record available with this agency.”

He was asked to submit records about FBR returns/ declarations for 2016 to 2023 (personal & business), list of all countries visited/ international travels and list of all offshore/ shell companies and business vehicles.

List of all international assets (properties, investments and accounts) held directly or indirectly through any offshore/ shell companies or business vehicles, by him, his spouse or any other family member, and bank transactions were also sought.

The call-up notice also carried a warning of legal action for not appearing before the investigation team.

Last year, a news website published a story about a sudden and ‘unexplainable’ increase in the assets of the family members of Sabir Mithu and the influential figure.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2023