Terror financing charges only thing common between them

ISLAMABAD: Although Altaf Khanani money laundering organisation and Akida Islamic Bank International Limited are owned by men living in two different worlds, international sanctions on terror financing charges are what bracket them together.

Obaid Altaf Khanani, identified in the Bahamas record as the sole owner of an offshore company, is the son of a notorious money changer, Altaf Khanani, who was arrested in the US last year and sanctions were slapped on his business.

Headed by an Eritrean-Italian Ahmed Idris Nadreddin, Akida Bank is registered as offshore company in Bahamas and former senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami is among its directors. He has acknowledged directing this bank but clarified that he didn’t have any financial stake in it. The bank was hit by the US and UN sanctions after 9/11 incidents. The sanctions were lifted only in 2007.

The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung obtained the Bahamas data from a whistleblower and shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its media partners. The News is the only partner from Pakistan.

Obaid Khanani set up an offshore company, Blackdale Holdings Limited, in 2009 that coincides with the shifting of their businesses in UAE after the arrest of his father in Pakistan. Altaf Khanani’s network was unearthed in 2009 when he was allegedly found involved in the transaction of huge money to Afghanistan.

As like Axact scandal, the authorities didn’t vigorously pursue his case that resulted in his acquittal. Although the then PPP government had filed an appeal against his acquittal in Sindh High Court, he was not put on the Exit Control List that facilitated his fleeing abroad.

This was despite the declaration by the then interior minister Rehman Malik that Altaf Khanani had established his network of “hawala and hundi” and that had been unearthed in Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore.

While his appeal remained pending in the court, the government never sought his extradition from Dubai to Pakistan. His arrest in America occurred as a result of information-sharing between American and UAE authorities.

As far as Akida Islamic Bank is concerned, it was registered as an offshore company in Bahamas in April 1997. Among its directors were Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, Attia Ahmed Nasreddin, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, Eng Yousser Nada and Dorothy Malcolm.

As The News sent an email to ask Professor Khurshid Ahmed to confirm the veracity of details emerged from Bahamas document, he acknowledged his relations with the owner of this bank that was hit by sanctions after 9/11 but categorically denied any financial interest attached with it.

Below is his detailed response:

“Mr Ahmed Idris Nasreddin is a very close and old friend of mine. He originally comes from Eritrea but is settled in Milano, Italy. He is a leading business man, ex-diplomat and a philanthropist. Akida Islamic Bank was his family bank and was involved exclusively in financing his family business in Italy, Nigeria, Turkey and other places. It was 100 percent owned by him and I did not have any share in it or any financial stake. Because of my position as an economist and one who has been involved in the development of Islamic economics, I had been advising him on the sharia compatibility of the financial operations. This relationship has been honorary and there had not been any financial involvement of any kind including any fee or traveling expenses. Ahmed Nasreddin was hit by the American and UN sanctions imposed after 9/11 and all his business enterprises in Italy and elsewhere were hit by these sanctions. He however challenged these sanctions through court of law and successfully vindicated his position through court judgment. The UN sanctions were withdrawn and he and all his enterprises de-listed in 2007. Akida Islamic Bank was also closed down in September 2001 while his other enterprises had been reactivated and operationalised, Akida Bank remained dormant and was closed down.”