The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has charged three private companies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with exceeding the limit on the purchase of US dollars.
The anti-corruption watchdog caught three companies purchasing a total of $4.9 million, with $3.52 million bought by Shahzad Enterprises, $0.985 million by Junaid Enterprises, and $0.344 million by Yousaf Rehman Enterprises.
Cases have been filed against Shahzad Enterprises, Yousaf Rehman Enterprises, and Junaid Enterprises under sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, and sections 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, after the Commercial Banking Circle of the FIA discovered these entities violating the limit on US dollar purchases.
Deputy Director Afzal Khan Niazi told Dawn that investigations are also underway against 11 other companies and three individuals on similar charges, and cases would be filed once the investigation was completed.
Niazi said dollar purchases by 13 companies over the last ten years were thoroughly investigated and only three of these entities were initially charged with violating the dollar purchase limits. He pointed out that in the vast majority of cases, company employees and relatives were involved in siphoning dollars to escape regulations.
On December 19, the Commercial Banking Circle of the FIA’s KP Zone recovered $0.1 million in foreign currency notes during a raid in the provincial capital’s Chowk Yadgar area and arrested Irfanullah on suspicion of being a “gang member.”
Two days later, the agency sealed four commercial plazas in the same area, claiming the action was part of a crackdown on the illegal hundi/hawala businesses to prevent US dollars from being smuggled out of the country.