Model Ayyan involved in huge tax evasion, claims FBR

ISLAMABAD: FBR has established huge tax evasion by model Ayyan Ali in a money laundering case and a formal reference in this regard will be filed soon, The News learnt Thursday.

Official documents available with The News show that the FBR’s Intelligence & Investigation (I&I), Inland Revenues (IR) has completed the investigation in the money laundering case against Ayyan Ali whereby the tax authorities found her involved in massive tax evasion, causing huge losses to the national exchequer. Ayyan possesses National Tax Number (NTN) but she has never filed income tax returns.

Now the tax authorities are trying to establish who actually owned the half a million dollars which the model was trying to transfer to Dubai but she was apprehended at the Islamabad airport. The FBR is investigating whether Khalid Malik, brother of former minister Rehman Malik, is involved in this case. During the investigation process, the FBR issued notices to different entities to ascertain facts in the money laundering case. In reply to notice titled u/s 176 regarding information in the case of M/S Ayyan having CNIC-35201-9421952-6 and National Tax Number (NTN) 3966645-0, the Bahria Town stated that Ayyan Ali never owned any plot/property in any area of the Bharia Town projects located in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

However, Ayyan Ali possessed a flat in DHA Karachi with apartment number-4 flat# 8 Block C in Creek Vista-VIII measuring 3248 sq feet. According to DHA letter, this apartment has been purchased in September 2011 from Ms Sabhia Younas. Ayyan Ali was not the original allottee but she purchased this apartment at a later stage. Her bank account however did not show any transaction in this regard.

Ms Ayyan Ali has a bank account a bank Karachi and according to her bank statement she possessed deposit in the range of around Rs3.5 million to Rs4 million in her account number 6-1-24-20311-714-131426.

In October 2014, two major transactions were made from her account amounting to Rs0.9 million and another 0.9 million in order to avoid issuance of any suspicious transaction report (STRs) from concerned bank under the Money Laundering Law of the country.

She possessed a black VIGO vehicle having estimated value of Rs1.5 million. The FBR’s investigators found that Ayyan Ali undertook 41 foreign trips to different countries. She does not have the nationality of UAE but she possessed business visa of that country.

Ms Ayyan Ali has established a company in Dubai with the name of AA-FZE in Free Trade Zone of Jabal-e-Ali. The FBR has found that she established this company to get visas for her close relatives including her mother Farhat Sultana and her brother Zulfiqar by providing 6000 dirhams.All this clearly showed that she was allegedly involved in evading taxes and the tax authorities would prosecute her under the relevant tax laws.