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KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday raided multiple hawala-hundi operators in Karachi, seizing Rs25 million in cash, prize bonds, checks, electronic equipment and phones, the agency said.
Five people were arrested in relation to the illicit financial transfers, it further said.
As per FIA Karachi Director Nauman Siddiqui, the FIA’s Corporate Crime Circle conducted the operation which led to the arrest of Shayan Wahid, a hawala trader, and Asif Ashraf, the owner of a travel agency, at a building on Shahrah-e-Millat.
Authorities retrieved Rs22.5 million in cash, laptops, cell phones, and documents pertaining to hawala-hundi transactions during the bust.
In another raids, executed under court orders, the FIA confiscated Rs4.7 million in cash, Rs61,000 in reward bonds, and 117 signed checks. In addition, seven cell phones, two laptops, two computers, and other hawala-hundi-related documents were seized in the Garden West and Sharfabad areas.
Subsequent inquiries revealed that suspects Muhammad Owais, Aqeel Sameer, and Javed were in charge of a hawala scheme, utilizing third-party accounts to move money and make payments through a benami (undisclosed) business.
