FIA transfers Hussain Lawai to Islamabad for further investigation

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) transferred banker Hussain Lawai to Islamabad for further investigation in a money laundering probe, Geo News reported Wednesday.

The FIA team flew from the Karachi's Jinnah International Airport with  Lawai at 4pm. The banker will be investigated by senior FIA authorities in the federal capital.

Lawai was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on July 6 on money laundering charges after the FIA registered a case in Karachi last week over a mega money-laundering scandal involving Rs35 billion — said to implicate politicians, businessmen, and bankers.

FIA arrests Hussain Lawai in money-laundering probe

Lawai was recently barred from flying abroad after the FIA began probing into suspicious transactions from ten bank accounts

FIA officials say that 32 people, including Lawai, are being investigated for laundering billions of rupees through 'benami' or fictitious bank accounts.

The scandal also includes former president Asif Ali Zardari and several of his close associates, including sister Faryal Talpur.

The Supreme Court has also taken notice of the case and summoned Zardari, among others, on July 12 (Thursday).

On Tuesday, Hussain Lawai was removed on Tuesday as the chairman of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), according to a notification by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

The SECP earlier issued a letter to PSX CEO Richard Morin stating that it has come to its notice that Lawai has been arrested in an ongoing investigation into money laundering and that in the "interest of the general public and the capital markets", he be removed from his post.