An accountability court in Islamabad has delivered a significant verdict in a high-profile money laundering case, sentencing Lt Col (retd) Khalil ur Rehman, Chief Operating Officer of Bahria Town, to 10 years of imprisonment after finding him guilty of laundering nearly Rs1.7 billion through illegal financial channels.
The court also gave him a hefty fine of Rs25 million and ordered the confiscation of assets deemed to have been acquired through unlawful means. Authorities said the case included the transfer of large sums of money through hawala and hundi networks, methods that bypass formal banking systems and are largely considered illegal under Pakistani law.
Judge Nasrullah Minallah of the accountability court delivered the judgement which ruled that the transfer of funds through hawala and hundi networks constitutes a serious financial crime that undermines the integrity of the country’s financial system.