KARACHI: Customs Air Freight Unit Additional Collector (ADC) Dr Tahir Qureshi has expressed deep concern over the current policy of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) pertaining to carrying foreign currency up to the limit of $10,000 per person during the course of travelling abroad.
Air Freight Unit ADC Dr Tahir Qureshi while talking to Customs Today said that the customs authorities have repeatedly expressed their concern over the SBP policy regarding the permission of carrying $10,000 per person during travelling abroad. He said that the SBP should amend the said policy in order to curb money laundering.
“The State Bank of Pakistan should make some amendments in order to change or erase the said policy to save the flight of foreign exchange to other countries,” he added.
Dr Tahir Qureshi further said that the said policy of the SBP has given an opportunity to passengers, who frequently visited aboard, as they can carry a huge amount of foreign exchange in terms of dollars, if they travel abroad 15 to 20 times in a month, which means that they can easily transfer around $150,000 to $200,000 in a month.
Citing another example, Dr Tahir further said that a family consisting of six to seven persons could easily transfer a handsome amount of foreign exchange instantly in a single trip abroad by carrying $10,000 per head.
ADC Dr Tahir further said that the Customs Tribunal should also change its approach regarding its verdicts on money laundering cases, as it has been often observed that the Customs Tribunal – instead of imposing fine/penalty on the total amount of seized foreign exchange exceeding the limit of $10,000 –only ordered to seize that amount which exceeded the limit.
He claimed that the customs has detected more cases of money laundering than any other agency, adding that the authorities concerned were trying to apprehend such type of cases more by increasing “risk profiling”.
