FIA chief vows efforts to provide businessmen online facility for hearings of cases, inquiries

Director General Federal Investigation Agency Dr Sanaullah Abbasi has vowed to make efforts to provide an online facility for conducting hearings in cases and notices issued by FIA circles.

He said this while meeting business community representatives in Karachi on Saturday.

Abbasi, while responding to a KCCI suggestion, held out the assurance that he would look into the possibility of providing an online facility for conducting hearings for members of business community in order to help them avoid travelling all the way to FIA circles in far-flung areas where they were being summoned by officials to clarify their position.

“This online hearing mechanism could be set up for handling cases/notices being received from faraway circles all over Pakistan to minimise the hardships being faced by business community,” he added while speaking at an online meeting, which was also attended by General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, President KCCI Shariq Vohra, Chairman Law & Order Subcommittee Junaid-ur-Rehman, former KCCI presidents Majyd Aziz and Iftikhar Vohra, Director FIA South Amir Farooqi, KCCI Managing Committee members and FIA officials.

Dr Abbasi stated that it was the objective of the FIA to fully serve and facilitate the business community and provide maximum possible solutions to their problems, besides paying special attention to the business community’s suggestions, as they, being the backbone of the country, generated economic activities.

He also nominated Director FIA South Amir Farooqi as the focal person for dealing with complaints being raised by the Karachi Chamber, which would improve coordination between the two institutions.

Referring to suggestions given by General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, Dr Abbasi said these suggestions, after consultation with an FIA team, would certainly be incorporated in the policy with a view to improving the visa on arrival facility at the airports.

Briefing the meeting participants about numerous initiatives taken for promptly dealing with digital banking and cybercrime cases, he said that it had always been his priority to ensure a business-friendly approach while dealing with all such cases so that the economic activities were not stalled.

“Cybercrime has been rising as we are receiving a lot of complaints. Hence, we are making all-out efforts and will try our best to resolve such complaints at the earliest,” he added.

A.Q. Khalil underscored the need to simplify the visa on arrival facility, saying that foreigners, particularly businessmen, faced immense hardships in availing this facility mainly due to a poor attitude of FIA officials deployed at the airports.

“Under the existing policy, a deputy director of the FIA is responsible for either issuing or rejecting a visa to any foreign investor without consulting with any chamber of commerce or relevant local businessmen. Such bureaucratic hurdles create a lot of problems, and at many occasions some of the credible foreign investors face deportation that needs to be given special attention as it sends a negative message about Pakistan.”

He advised the DG FIA to publicise the progress reports and achievements in dealing with the menace of cybercrime as a lot was being claimed but nothing much had been publicized. “Pakistan has remained on the grey list of FATF for quite some time now, and we are not much acquainted with our shortcomings, whereas it has also been observed that the FIA has been constantly intervening in business transactions; hence, the FATF conditions for money laundering have to be effectively highlighted so that the business community could comply with the same and accordingly carry out their transactions,” Khalil suggested.

Shariq Vohra, in his remarks, stated that the FIA’s perception had been gradually improving all over the country due to dedicated efforts being made by officers like Sanaullah Abbasi, who had been striving really hard to serve the country. “However, we request the DG FIA to also take a look into the matter of a large number of notices being issued to members of the business community by the FIA, which are a major source of harassment,” he added.

In order to promptly resolve numerous issues being faced by the business community, he advised the FIA chief to nominate a focal person who could look into the issues being raised by the Karachi Chamber so that they could be amicably and effectively resolved.

Expressing deep concerns over notices being issued to KCCI members by the FIA circles in Multan, Faisalabad and other areas where FIA officials ask businessmen to appear in person for hearings or face severe consequences, Junaid ur Rehman underscored the need to devise an effective mechanism for holding all such hearings in Karachi, and if the cases were found not so serious, these should be immediately disposed of without creating more difficulties for businessmen and industrialists.

He also requested FIA chief to enhance the capacity of the system implemented for handling the cases pertaining to digital banking crimes and to make it more efficient.