The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) State Bank Circle has raided an illegal money exchanger and smuggler at Star City Mall in Sadar Karachi. The owner of M/s Global Mobile, Abdul Kareem, was running an unlawful operation of hawala, a system of transferring money without any official records.
The raid was conducted by a team led by Deputy Director Muhammad Ayaz Maher, based on information received by the FIA. The team seized the record of illegal transactions, as well as local and foreign currency, mobile phones and laptops from the premises.
The FIA estimated that the value of the confiscated mobile phones and laptops was Rs6.2 million. These goods had been purchased in Dubai and smuggled into Pakistan through Khaipya, a courier service, without paying any duty and taxes. The payment for these goods was made by hawala.
The FIA has registered a case against Abdul Kareem and his accomplices under the relevant laws and is further investigating the matter.