FAISALABAD: National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) is being established to check the increasing cyber crimes while stringent measures are being taken to control the menace of smuggling in Pakistan, said Rai Ijaz Ahmad Director Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Addressing the business community in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he advised them to switch over to transparent transactions through government channels instead of making payments through “Hawala Hundi” to avoid any financial implication.

He said that 50% remittances through hawala hundi dealers are related to the genuine businessmen however FIA prefers to ignore the unintentional irregularities on “Mens Rea” basis. “Our focus should be on smashing the network of such dealers”, he said. He quoted FATF and said that Pakistan was placed in the grey list due to the alleged money laundering.

He said that FIA and state organizations in close collaboration with the business community made serious efforts to drag out Pakistan from the grey list. He said that now a separate and dedicated anti money laundering circle has been created to check it.

Rai Ijaz Ahmad said that the Financial Management Unit in State Bank of Pakistan is electronically monitoring available financial data and “red-flag” dubious, irregular and out of proportion transactions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024