IB role vital in getting Pakistan removed from FATF grey list

LAHORE: The Intelligence Bureau (IB) shared 47 sensitive reports and 91 financial informations with anti-money laundering agencies to get Pakistan removed from FATF's gray list.

This disclosure was made in the report "Major Economic Security Operations 2022-23".

According to the documents available with "Jang", on the demand of FATF, the IB provided information and evidence to Financial Monitoring Unit, FIA, SBP, FBR, NECTA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Prime Minister's Office regarding anti-money laundering and financial support of terrorists. It identified 187 currency exchanges across the country conducting suspicious transactions worth crores of rupees through hawala/hundi.

The report said banned and terrorist organiations – TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front and Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat – collected Rs57.90 million during last Ramazan and on Eid-ul-Azha. These organisations received huge sums of money through extortion, banditry and kidnapping for ransom for their activities.

IB, along with other law-enforcement agencies, conducted intelligence-based operations. Rs4.78 billion, used for money-laundering and terrorist financing, was recovered.

In the operations, led by IB officials, an attempt was foiled to smuggle a huge amount of gold, jewellery and arms out of Pakistan through Torkham border.

The IB also provided the Prime Minister names of 29 political figures and 89 senior government officials involved in smuggling petrol worth billions of rupees from Iran to Pakistan.

On the information of IB, some 417 intelligence-based operations were conducted against 592 warehousemen who stored wheat. 90,147 metric tons of wheat, stored for smuggling to Afghanistan, was recovered in the operations. It was a great success against smuggling which contributed to food security and economic stability.

Actions were taken against 259 corrupt officers of the Food Department. During 2022-23, the agency conducted operations against sugar hoarders from whom 12,409 metric tons of sugar was recovered.

Action was also taken against 405 fertilizer hoarders and 64 smugglers, foiling the attempt to smuggle fertilizer worth billions of rupees to Afghanistan. After the operations, the prices of fertilizer did not increase and the commodity was available to the farmers at reasonable rates.

Human trafficker, Fateh, son of Zahir Shah, was arrested. He had been running the biggest smuggling network and was involved in sending thousands of people illegally to Europe through Iran.