ISLAMABAD – The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday revealed thataround Rs 42.37 billion was laundered through fake bank accounts and theirholders were at present being investigated by the National AccountabilityBureau (NAB).FIA Director General (DG) Bashir Ahmed Memon told the National Assembly’sStanding Committee on Interior that in 2015, some sources reported to theagency that a huge amount was illegally transacted through four ‘Benami'(fake) accounts, however, action against their holders could not beinitiated due to feeble evidence.
The committee met here with Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz in the chair.Bashir Memon said the FIA restarted investigations again in 2017 andidentified 29 fake accounts, including the initial four ones, through whichmassive money laundering was carried out.He said in January 2018, the Supreme Court took the suo motu notice of the ‘Benami accounts’ and directed the FIA to form a Joint Investigation Team(JIT) to probe into the massive money laundering.He said the 70-member JIT, comprising officials of Federal Board ofRevenue, State Bank of Pakistan, FIA and other institutions, checked some11,500 accounts of 424 individuals and 500 various entities, besidesanalysing 59 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and 24,500 CashTransactions Reports (CTRs). The JIT found that money laundering amountingto Rs 42.37 billion was carried out through 29 accounts, he added.Committee member Syed Agha Rafiullah sought the complete details of thealleged money launderers and inquired about the present status of theanti-money laundering operation.The FIA chief said the details about the money launderers could not be madepublic and requested to arrange an in-camera briefing for the purpose. Thecase was forwarded to NAB which was further investigating it, he added.He also briefed the committee about the present strength of the agency andsaid as many as 3,579 staff members were working in the different cadresincluding investigation and prosecution wings.
Another committee member Marriyum Aurangzeb said there was a dearth ofspecialized personnel as 87 per cent of FIA’s staff comprised officials ofGrade 16 and lower grades. She stressed the need for structural reforms inthe FIA with hiring of qualified and professional officers.Highlighting the paucity of manpower in the department, Bashir Memon saidthe FIA had devised a three-phase plan to overcome the human resourceshortage. Over 1,000 officials had been recruited in the first phase andbeing trained to improve its efficiency, he added.The FIA DG also suggested to raise the salaries of staff, which would helpenhance their performance.
