According to media reports, a money laundering network in Pakistan transferred a “colossal amount” of allegedly illicit funds to Iran, with a representative of Iran’s supreme leader among the recipients, according to court documents recently submitted by Pakistani investigators.
According to investigation reports and WhatsApp chat logs, members of the network operated between Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq over the past seven years, Arab News reported.
“On scrutiny it has come on record that a colossal amount of foreign currency has been remitted in/out of Pakistan vide illegal transactions of hundi/hawala,” a charge sheet dated February 10, 2022, submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency to a court in Karachi, said.
Hawala and hundi are informal methods of transferring money across borders that are both illegal in Pakistan. According to FIA documents, the group also used pilgrims travelling to the cities of Najaf in Iraq and Qom in Iran to smuggle money, according to Arab News.
According to the charge sheet, one of the recipients of the transfers was Abolfazl Bahauddini, former representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Pakistan.
The supreme leader appoints representatives to all Iranian provinces, universities, government agencies, and countries with Shia communities, such as Pakistan.
Representatives are expected to promote Khamenei’s value system and theocratic principles through their sermons and public speeches, and also pressure local authorities to accommodate his policies. Their appointment in foreign countries is not officially announced.
According to FIA records, Bahauddini received money from the main suspect in the case, identified as Ali Raza.
Raza was among 13 people arrested during raids in Karachi in January this year, on charges of money laundering and being “associated with a foreign intelligence agency“, Arab News reported.
