KARACHI: Armaghan Qureshi, the key suspect in the Mustafa Amir murder case, legal challenges continue to mount as he has been booked for his alleged involvement in money laundering and fraud.
With the first information report (FIR) registered on behalf of the government in the Anti-Money Laundering Circle, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has accused Armaghan of being involved in hawala-hundi, digital currency and other illegal activities.
Armaghan, who is currently in judicial custody, has been allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of Mustafa after he went missing on January 6.
The whole case had unravelled after Armaghan opened fire at a team of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) — a specialised unit of the Karachi police responsible for tackling cases related to murder and extortion — during a raid at his residence in Karachi's DHA earlier this month.
The deceased's body — found by police in a car near the Hub checkpoint on January 12 — was later exhumed and subsequently buried after an initial DNA profiling report confirmed that the mortal remains belonged to Mustafa.
Additionally, it has also been alleged that Armaghan was allegedly responsible for supplying hundreds of youth with drugs and also subjecting several girls and boys to torture.
Meanwhile, last week, a local court rejected Armaghan's to record his confessional statement citing concerns regarding his mental state.
The court's decision to reject Armaghan's plea for a statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, came after he reportedly vacillated between confessing and refusing to provide a statement in the court of judicial magistrate (South).
Meanwhile, the latest FIR against Armaghan, which includes money laundering allegations, claims that the suspect used to earn $300,000 to $400,000 each month via fraud.
The amount, the FIR adds, was then converted to digital currency — which was used to purchase the vehicles owned by him.
With the FIR alleging that the suspect had opened bank accounts in the name of two of his employees, the FIA has claimed that Armaghan's call centre was used to make calls to the United States.
The calls were used to obtain critical information from US citizens which then was used to extract money from them fraudulently which was eventually received by Armaghan.
Elaborating on Armaghan's illegal activities, the FIR alleges that the suspect had established his illegal call centre back in 2018 and was operating an organised fraud network.
Each person working at the call centre used to defraud five people daily.
Claiming that the suspect had sold five of his vehicles and currently owned three worth millions, the FIR adds that he had also established a company in the US with his father Kamran Qureshi — who is also in police custody — for hawala-hundi.