FIA arrests hawala-hundi suspect in raid

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) State Bank Circle Karachi on Friday arrested an individual involved in illegal currency exchange operations and recovered local and foreign currencies worth millions of rupees.

According to an FIA spokesperson, the operation was executed by the State Bank Circle team in Karachi, resulting in the arrest of Syed Nawazish Raza. He was detained at a travel agency office located near Naumaish Chowrangi, where he was found to be conducting illegal currency exchange under the guise of a legitimate travel business.

During the raid, authorities seized substantial amounts of foreign currency, including 1,950 US dollars, 12,130 Saudi riyals, 900 Australian dollars, 800 Canadian dollars, and 583,000 Iraqi dinars. Additionally, 614,000 Pakistani rupees were recovered from the accused, and an account holding 32,000 US dollars used by Raza was frozen.

The operation also uncovered records related to mobile phones and other transactions involving foreign currency exchange. The raid, conducted on the directives of the Director Karachi Zone, revealed that Raza could not satisfactorily explain the origins of the recovered currency.

The FIA continued its investigation and was conducting further raids to apprehend other individuals involved in the illegal hawala and hundi operations. Further inquiries are underway.