FIA wants instant access to FBI’s files

Khanani and Kalia money laundering scam

ISLAMABAD: A special inquiry team, probing the country’s biggest money laundering scam, has sought assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assess scope of multi-billion dollars case involving the most sophisticated exchange company of Pakistan — the Khanani and Kalia International (KKI).

A three-member team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has requested the Ministry of Interior to write through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the FBI to share relevant official documents pertaining to the KKI and its Middle East country-based subsidiary company called ‘Al-Zarooni Exchange Company’ with Islamabad. The investigators also want instant access to Altaf Khanani who was awarded a sentence of 68 months prison with fine of $0.25 million by a US court for money laundering last month.

Investigators want the FBI’s cooperation in many fields, read the official documents exclusively available with this correspondent. The team also sought help of the government of the Middle Eastern country in this case.

The exclusively obtained points read: “Pakistan wants forensic analysis report of the electronic equipment recovered from Altaf Khanani and Al-Zarooni Exchange.” The team headed by Deputy Director FIA Lahore Jamil Ahmed requested the Interior Ministry to immediately write to the governments of the Middle Eastern country and US for this purpose.

The inquiry team further seeks “details of the parties (payees/beneficiaries) of KKI present in the electronic equipment and incriminating material recovered from Al-Zarooni Exchange”. It also wants access to information the FBI team collected pertaining to unregistered internal accounts of different parties maintained by the alleged director of KKI/Al-Zarooni Exchange Company. The FBI raided office of Al-Zarooni Exchange Company in the Middle Eastern country and seized electronic equipment along with incriminating material present at that time in 2015.

The request is being made to the Middle Eastern country and the FBI after fresh investigation made shocking revelations about the KKI, which, through its entity, Al-Zarooni Exchange, allegedly transferred billions of dollars all over the world, FIA officials said on Sunday.

Further, the FIA wanted details of “bank accounts maintained by Altaf Khanani and his family members in the US and the Middle Eastern country, if any information pertaining to owners/directors of Al-Zarooni Exchange Company from the concerned quarters/regulators of government of the Middle Eastern country.”

The country’s top agency also desired to know “the scope/nature of business allowed to Al-Zarooni Exchange and bank accounts maintained by Al-Zarooni Exchange and its directors in the Middle Eastern country including Atif Polani and Amir Zakaria.”

The FIA also wrote to the ministry that it wanted help of the FBI in finding “complete details of debit credit of bank account of Al-Zarooni Exchange since inception and nature/type of transactions made by Al-Zarooni Exchange along with names/particulars of payees/beneficiaries of the transactions”. It also sought details of properties purchased by director of KKI and Al-Zarooni from the proceeds of crime.

A three-member team in its initial investigation, meanwhile, stated, “Detail of transactions with bank branch and account numbers is enclosed with request to take up the matter with the concerned authorities through ministries of interior and foreign affairs for collection of following bank record for further proceeding into the matter.” Pakistan is going to seek cooperation of the Middle Eastern country authorities into four categories including details of accounts and particulars of all accused persons, FIA officials said.

We are going to seek access to statement of accounts of these two companies from all the banks which have branches in the Middle Eastern country from 2007 to till date. All debit credit vouchers and any other relevant information are also needed to the FIA team from the Middle Eastern country,” one of investigators told this correspondent. The State Bank of Pakistan has also been approached for cooperation, he added. Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan formed a committee to thoroughly re-investigate all facts against Altaf Khanani and Javaid Khanani, directors of the largest foreign exchange company in the country, who were accused of transferring billions of dollars from Pakistan through illegal ‘Hawala or Hundi business’ earlier this year.