ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) commercial banking circle on Monday, in continuation of the ongoing crackdown against the hoarding of foreign currency, raided illegal money exchange dealers in Rawalpindi and arrested 4 suspects.
The team led by Assistant Director Mehak Gul raided Paracha traders in Rawalpindi and apprehended 4 accused involved in illegal currency exchange businesses without having a license.
The FIA team lodged a case under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act against Abdur Rahman Paracha, Tauseef Ahmad, Bilal Kaleem, and Muhammad Naveed, APP reported.
The accused failed to satisfy the FIA team on the recovered foreign currency worth three million rupees.
Earlier, the FIA Multan Zone took action against elements involved in currency smuggling, apprehended a suspect, and recovered one lac Saudi Riyals from his possession.
The team, under the supervision of Deputy Director Dera Ghazi Khan Zahid Mehmood, raided and apprehended the accused.
The suspect, named Muhammad Aleem and a resident of Okara, Punjab, was traveling to Quetta, Balochistan. The team, on a tip-off, raided and detained him during the search of the bus.
According to preliminary investigation, he had to smuggle foreign currency from Quetta to Iran and Afghanistan.
FIA’s Crackdown in KP
Meanwhile, a crackdown against illegal forex trade was also launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following reports of an artificial hike in the US currency rate in Peshawar, where forty-five such shops were closed on charges of illegal trade.
To curb illegal forex trade and smuggling of US currency, FIA has raided multiple shops in Chowk Yadgar Peshawar and closed over 45 shops there.
Officials in FIA said the crackdown on illegal forex trade and US dollar smuggling was started by the FIA’s Commercial Banking Circle. Peshawar police and other law-enforcement agencies also helped FIA during the crackdown.
The currency shops operating in Peshawar without obtaining licenses from the State Bank of Pakistan had been closed. FIA has carried out more than twenty-seven raids in the last 23 days leading to the arrest of twenty-eight people for doing hundi-hawala business.
