Currency smuggling case: Arrest warrants for Ayyan Ali issued, again

A Customs Court in Rawalpindi on Saturday ordered the arrest of model Ayyan Ali and issued bailable warrants for her in the currency smuggling case.

Judge Arshad Bhutta presided over the hearing in the court. The court maintained that Ayyan failed to appear at hearings over the last one a half years despite being repeatedly summoned.

The court issued warrants to ensure the accused is produced in the court on October 6, failing which strict action will be taken against her.

In September 2017, an officer of the Airport Security Force (ASF) claimed before a committee of the National Assembly that a personal employee of a former president had tried to rescue Ayyan when she was caught at the airport over two years ago on charges of smuggling money out of the country.

In 2015, Ayyan was arrested at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Airport while boarding a flight to the United Arab Emirates with $506,800 without the permission of the State Bank of Pakistan. She was sent to jail and the government put her name on the Exit Control List. But she subsequently left for Dubai after she was released on bail and a court ordered the removal of her name from the ECL.

Source: Express Tribune