FIA recovered Rs16bn from convicts in 2023

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) recovered approximately Rs16 billion from over 2400 convicts in 2023 and deposited them in the national exchequer, FIA’s annual report reveals.

Anti-Corruption Wing of FIA recovered over Rs7 billion and the Economic Crime Wing recovered and deposited more than Rs8 billion in public kitty. Whereas Anti-Money Laundering recovered over Rs29 million and Immigration Wing recovered more than Rs380 million in year 2023.

Further, during the year 2023, FIA immigration processed 19.64 million passengers at international arrival and departure check posts. A total of 9.29 million travelers arrived Pakistan in 2023 out of which 7.13 million were Pakistanis and 2.16 million were foreigners. Whereas out of 10.34 million travelers, 8.12 million Pakistani nationals and 2.22 million foreigners, departed from Pakistan. Integrated Border Management System of FIA successfully detected 2935 stop-list match cases during the year.

In drive against human smugglers/traffickers, FIA conducted special operations in the country and arrested 1602 human smugglers/traffickers and arrested 25 of Most Wanted Human smugglers/traffickers. In addition to this, the Cyber Crime Wing showed proficient performance during the year 2023. Cyber Crime Wing registered 18484 Enquiries and 1374 cases. Cyber Crime Wing submitted challans of 882 cases before the trial courts. During this period, trail courts convicted the accused persons in 92 cases.

FIA’s Annual Report 2023 states that the department registered a total of 37472 enquiries, 7824 cases and arrested 16747 accused persons. The 6249 challans of cases were submitted before the trial courts and due to successful prosecution, convictions in 2423 cases were obtained. FIA recovered and deposited an amount of Rs15647.384 million in the national exchequer during the year.

The Anti-Corruption Wing registered 2345 Enquiries and 543 Cases. The Anti-Corruption Wing arrested 711 accused persons and submitted challans of 474 cases before the trial courts. During this period, Trial courts convicted the accused persons in 75 cases. Anti-Corruption Wing recovered and deposited an amount of Rs7229.240 million during the year 2023. Economic Crime Wing also manifested good performance during the year, 2023.

Economic Crime Wing registered 2099 Enquiries and 1090 cases. 2697 accused persons were arrested and challans of 781 cases were submitted before the trial courts. Trial courts awarded convictions to the accused persons in 502 cases. An amount of Rs8007.355 million was recovered/seized as case property. FIA also established a specialized AML-CFT Directorate to effectively monitor Anti Money Laundering operations in the country. The report says that the Economic Crime Wing of FIA played a vital role in getting Pakistan removed from the grey list of FATF.

During the Year 2023, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directorates registered 595 Enquiries and 76 cases. The 23 accused persons were arrested and challans of 57 cases were submitted before the trial courts. During this period, trial courts awarded convictions to the accused person in 04 cases. An amount of Rs29.4 million was recovered from offenders.

Immigration Wing, in its drive against human smuggling and trafficking performed outstandingly during the year. Immigration Wing registered 13949 Enquiries and 4741 cases. Immigration Wing arrested 13316 accused persons and submitted challans of 4055 cases before the trial courts. During this period, trial courts awarded punishments to the accused persons after convictions in 1750 cases. An amount of Rs381.389 million recovered during the year 2023. In order to build the capacity of its workforce, FIA Academy arranged a variety of national/International professional courses/trainings. During the year, 179 trainings were conducted and 1305 officers/officials were trained. A number of workshops and training programmes were also organized in collaboration with the national and international partners including UNODC, ICMPD, ICITAP, IOM and UNTOC etc.