The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan has registered a money laundering case involving cryptocurrency transactions.
The case was launched following an inquiry into the activities of Danyal Farooq, a resident of the Nowshera district, who was found to have maintained 10 different bank accounts with transactions totaling approximately PKR 870 million (approximately USD 5.4 million) over the past three years. These transactions included a credit turnover of around PKR 437 million (approximately USD 2.7 million) and a debit turnover of around PKR 436 million (approximately USD 2.7 million), which the FIA determined was not proportionate with Farooq's declared profile.
According to the FIR (First Information Report) filed by the FIA, Farooq's accounts showed that between June 2020 and April 2021, the credit turnover of the account was PKR 223 million (approximately USD 1.4 million), comprising an online cash deposit of PKR 101 million (approximately USD 630,000), inter-bank funds transfers of PKR 51.8 million (approximately USD 324,000), and internet fund transfer of PKR 42 million (approximately USD 262,000). The cash withdrawals revealed that PKR 129 million (approximately USD 810,000) was debited through cash mode, PKR 55 million (approximately USD 345,000) through inter-bank funds transfer (IBFT), and PKR 33 million (approximately USD 207,000) through internet fund transfer.
Farooq insisted to the investigation team that he was engaged in the business of "general order supply" to various stores, but the FIA determined that his business was not registered with the Federal Board of Revenue.
The agency also stated that cryptocurrency transactions are not allowed in Pakistan by the State Bank of Pakistan and that all of Farooq's cryptocurrency transactions were undocumented, unexplained, unregistered, illegal, and tantamount to illegal parallel banking. As a result, the FIA has registered a case against Farooq under relevant sections of the law, and efforts are being made to arrest him.
