Police return cash of Sarfraz Merchant

LONDON: The Scotland Yard’s National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) has returned the full cash taken away from Sarfraz Merchant’s flat when MQM-London leader Altaf Hussain and his associates were arrested as part of the money-laundering investigation over three years ago.

Sarfraz Merchant visited the NTFIU headquarters through an appointment where he was returned his money by the police detectives who investigated MQM’s money-laundering case – which has now been closed by the police citing ‘lack of evidence’.

Sarfraz Merchant and Tariq Mir were arrested in December 2013 a few weeks after the MQM-London leader Altaf Hussain’s arrest at his Mill Hill home. Speaking to Geo News outside the NTFIU, Sarfraz Merchant shared when the police dropped the investigation around 6 months ago, around £24,000 were returned in his bank account but the police held back the cash in dirham and Pakistani rupee.

“Today I have received £10k UAE dirham, 31 thousands Pak rupee from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit. Cash was seized from my home when Counter Terrorism Command Unit raided my home. Now the police have confirmed to me that each and every penny of mine was legitimate and clean. It’s because of this fact that the police have returned money to me. Nothing illegal has been found against me in the whole investigation and that has always been my stance that I have never done anything illegal or wrong,” Sarfraz Merchant said.

He said that he was considering taking legal action to claim legal costs against the police for keeping him under investigation for over three years and costing him nearly a million pound. “I have gone through a lot of stress and trauma all these years. I have suffered. I had to stay in London because of this case and it cost me a lot of money in legal fee, accommodation and travel. I am speaking to my lawyers on this and I have been advised that I have the right to claim back my legal fee. I will announce my strategy in a few days.”