KARACHI – The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested four suspects involved in illegal hawala/hundi and unlicensed currency exchange operations during two separate actions in the city.
According to an FIA spokesperson, teams from the Anti-Corruption Circle and the State Bank Circle conducted targeted operations in the areas of New Chali and Cantt Station, leading to the arrest of suspects identified as Mustafa, Shakeel, Imdad Ali, and Kashif Ghori.
During the raids, officials recovered a total of Rs6 million from Shakeel and Mustafa. Additionally, 15,000 Saudi Riyals, 4,970 UAE Dirhams, 22 million Iranian Rials, 400 US Dollars, 96 Omani Riyals, 160 Thai Baht, 100,000 Uzbek Soms, 49,500 Iraqi Dinars, 15 Chinese Yuan, 93 Malaysian Ringgits, and Rs800,000 in local currency were seized from Imdad Ali and Kashif Ghori.
The FIA revealed that the suspects were running illegal currency exchange businesses without licenses. Digital evidence, including mobile phones and transaction records related to hawala/hundi, was also recovered. The arrested individuals failed to provide satisfactory explanations regarding the recovered foreign and local currency.
Further investigations are underway, while raids are being conducted to arrest other members of the network involved in the illicit operations.
