KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR)’s Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation-Inland Revenue (I&I-IR) wing on Thursday made first-ever arrest under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2010, Daily Times has learnt reliably.
Sources in the federal bureau said that I&I-IR Hyderabad section arrested a local businessman, who was under FBR’s scrutiny for alleged laundering of millions of rupees, under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.
The accused, Ishaq Rahu, was arrested from his residence by special team of I&I-IR Hyderabad on Thursday morning.
The intelligence and investigation wing had obtained arrest warrants for the accused from the special customs and taxation judge under AMLA 2010. The accused will be produced in court today.
The special team of the I&I-IR-Hyderabad was headed by Deputy Director Mumtaz Thebo and Deputy Director Abdul Rasool Golo.
In 2016, the government of Pakistan had given anti-money laundering investigation powers to the FBR Directorate General of I&I-IR, authorising it as an investigation and prosecuting agency under the AMLA 2010.
The FBR had started investigations against 270 influential people accused of laundering un-taxed money into accounts and assets abroad, involving billions of rupees.
The FBR, under AMLA-2010, is investigating 270 influential people accused of laundering un-taxed money into accounts and assets abroad, among which 57 individuals are based in Karachi, around 25 cases involve individuals from Lahore, 18 from Islamabad and the rest from Hyderabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Multan.
Sources said I&I Directorate of the FBR had recovered Rs10 billion in the last one and a half years. In one case, around Rs 6.5 billion was recovered from a Karachi-based industrialist after a case was registered against him AMLA-2010. The industrialist agreed to pay in return for withdrawal of charges.
Under AMLA-2010, the DG-I&I-IR is authorised to probe anti-money laundering cases. According to AMLA-2010, the offence of money laundering includes that a person shall be guilty of offence of money laundering, if he acquires, converts possesses, uses or transfers property, knowing or having reason to believe that such property is proceeds of crime; (b) conceals or disguises the true nature, original location, disposition, movement or ownership of property, knowing or, having reason to believe, that such property is proceeds of crime.
Published in Daily Times, May 4th 2018.