No criminal record of Asif Merchant found in Pakistan: CTD

KARACHI: Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) sources said on Wednesday that no criminal record of Asif Raza Merchant had come to light in Karachi, nor was he involved in any crime in Pakistan.

According to the US Department of Justice, 46-year-old Merchant allegedly planned to kill a politician or government official on US soil. He is also accused of trying to recruit a hitman in New York, who was an undercover FBI agent. Merchant is an income tax filer in Pakistan, and he is included in the active filer list in FBR records.

Meanwhile, Pakistani institutions have obtained the initial important details regarding Asif Merchant, a Pakistani citizen arrested in the United States on July 12 this year. He is married and has two children.

According to sources, Merchant, son of Habib Merchant, travelled to Iran several times from November 2, 2017 to April 8, 2024 on three passports. He stayed in Iran from November 2, 2017 to November 14, 2017. The sources said that the accused also spent time in Iran from September 17, 2023 to October 15, 2023. After returning from Iran in October 2023, he travelled to America on November 21 from where he returned to Pakistan on December 17, 2023. On January 15 this year, Merchant once again travelled to Iran from Karachi Airport and returned to Pakistan on February 12, 2024. On April 1, he again took a flight from Karachi to Iran and returned to Karachi on April 8. He finally travelled to America via Turkey from Pakistan on April 11, 2024.

Merchant, who was born on May 18, 1978, owns two houses in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Malir’s Jafar-e-Tayyar Society. He holds a master’s degree in Management Systems from Newport Institute, Karachi.

He started his banking career in the city in 2002 and worked as branch operation manager and manager operations during his career. He was later dismissed for alleged corruption, sources said.

The details of four Pakistani mobile numbers and one international number used by Asif Merchant have also been obtained. Records of three vehicles and one motorcycle used by him in Karachi have been found as well. An investigation is underway in this regard.