By Dr Shahid Qureshi: –

“At least Rs 5 Trillion black money is hidden in Pakistani homes”, claimed Aqeel Kareem Dheede who has been given presidential award on 23rd March 2019, in a live TV program. If Pakistan government really want to get out of this financial crisis, they must immediately change the design of five thousand and one thousand and Rs. 500 currency notes. Government should give 30 days notes to deposit all the money in the banks or it will be invalid after 30 days.

Recovery from the Agha Siraj Durrani Speaker of the Sind Assembly

It seems only armed forces and poor people are sacrificing their lives, limbs and wealth by indirect taxations and increasing oil prices. The un-patriotic elite of Pakistan is stealing wealth of Pakistan and sending abroad in bulks. The armed forces and intelligence agencies must launch special classified operation like they were doing in 5% FATA while 95% is being looted by the corrupt civil servants, politicians and businessmen. Pakistan’s current judicial system is cancerous and corrupt, can not deliver the results. Special military courts are the only solution to get the money back from these criminals. Shaukat Aziz introduced highest currency notes of Rs 5000 to make money laundering and black economy easy.

“Money laundering cannot happen without the cooperation of corrupt bankers and printing of high denomination currency notes is step one to money laundering”, few years ago I said to the Colombian ambassador to London in the British parliament at ‘ABC Colombia’ which is chaired by Jeremy Corbyn now leader of the Labour Party.

Pakistani media reported that: “Pakistan’s Supreme Court has been informed that transactions of more than 100 billion Pakistani rupees ($77 billion) have been carried out through 107 fake bank accounts, the authorities said.

According to the reports, a three-member bench of the country’s top court on Monday resumed the hearing of its suo-motu case on an investigation into money-laundering and fake bank accounts, reports Xinhua news agency.

A joint investigation team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted a report to the apex court, revealing that the transactions of 47 billion Pakistani rupees have been done through fake bank accounts and 54 billion Pakistani rupees were transferred through the fictitious accounts of 36 companies.

Several fictitious accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and illegal transactions worth billions of rupees were made through these accounts, according to investigation team.

The FIA has been investigating 32 people in the case, the reports added. Earlier, the Pakistani Interior Ministry barred 95 persons suspected to be involved in the case from leaving the country.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister FaryalTalpur and their associates are accused of sending Rs.35 billion abroad through fake accounts after which, their names were placed on Exit Control List (ECL).

FIA had prepared a report, revealing that more than 10 political personalities were allegedly involved in fictitious transactions worth Rs.35 billion.

“A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked with probing fake bank accounts submitted a progress report in the Supreme Court on Monday which revealed that transactions of Rs54 billion were made through 107 fake bank accounts.

An FIA JIT had been investigating a 2015 case regarding fake accounts and fictitious transactions conducted through ‘benami’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and UBL.

Seven individuals, including PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, were said to be involved in using those accounts for suspicious transactions. The accounts were allegedly used to channel funds received through kickbacks. While hearing a suo motu case regarding a delay in the FIA probe into the case, the SC had constituted a JIT to probe into the matter.” The daily Dawn reported on 22 Oct 2018.

Pakistan’s FIA Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on traced banking transactions worth over Rs4 bln from fake accounts opened on the name of a dead man identified as Mohammad Iqbal.

As per details garnered, Mohammad Iqbal had passed away on May 9, 2014. All fake bank accounts were opened in three branches of the same private bank.

Sources privy to development stated that both FIA and joint investigation team [constituted on the directives of Supreme Court (SC)] were separately probing the incident.

On the other hand, JIT questioned Korangi’s Sarwat and recorded her statement. Sarwat—on whose name fake bank account was opened—distanced herself while asserting that she was unaware of the account.

Apart from bank account, a fake company was also registered on Sarwat’s name whereas she was supposed to give Rs11 million in terms of tax.

Fake accounts are on the rise in Pakistan, at some place any hawker becomes billionaire while on the other a nurse gets millionaire, of course by doing nothing. The matter took hype especially after a Karachi’s falooda seller Abdul Qadir turned out to be a billionaire. He was baffled and wanted to know the notice issued to him by FIA.

At the time of opening an account, genuine CNIC and other relevant information are required and in case of a person living abroad, a passport is needed but fake accounts are being opened and being operated in spite of strict criteria.

(Dr Shahid Qureshi is senior analyst with BBC and chief editor of The London Post. He writes on security, terrorism and foreign policy. He also appears as analyst on Al-Jazeera, Press TV, MBC, Kazak TV (Kazakhstan), LBC Radio London. He was also international election observer for Azerbaijan April 2018, Kazakhstan 2015 and 2016 and Pakistan 2002. He has written a famous book “War on Terror and Siege of Pakistan” published in 2009. At Government College Lahore he wrote his MA thesis on ‘Political Thought of Imam Khomeini’ and visited Tehran University. He is PhD in ‘Political Psychology’ and studied Law at a British University. He also speaks at Cambridge University. He is a visiting Professor at Hebe University in China.)

Views expressed are not of The London Pot