ISLAMABAD: Secretary of Finance Dr Waqar Masood Khan has said that the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2014 will help control tax evasion and generate revenue.
He said this while informing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance about the approval of Bill. The committee, which met here with Senator Nasreen Jalil in the chair, reviewed the bill and decided to discuss further concerns and recommendations in its next meeting. Senators Syeda Sughra Imam, Haji Muhammad Adeel, Kulsoom Perveen, Islamuddin Sheikh, Sardar Fateh Muhammad, Muhammad Hassani, Muhammad Talha Mehmmood and Saleem H. Mandviwala, Governor of State Bank Ashraf Mehmood Wathra and other officials also attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, a State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) official informed a Senate committee that the bank had traced about 300 cases of money laundering, including 34 big transactions made to suspected terrorists during the last five years.
The official, who was a member of the anti-money laundering team headed by SBP Governor Dr Ashraf Wathra, told the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance that 270 suspects had so far been arrested on money laundering charges and investigations were underway against them under the Anti-Money Laundering Act passed by parliament five years ago. He said thats the SBP has frozen 200 bank accounts under the act. The official said informed the committee that 5,775 money laundering cases had been reported to the bank over the past five years.
