FATF Team To Visit Pakistan Amid Terror Funding, Hawala Networks Complaints: Source
A delegation from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), along with the Asia Pacific Group (APG), is likely to visit Pakistan in August for a monitoring and evaluation review, following multiple complaints to FATF regarding Islamabad's alleged role in terror financing and the resurgence of grey money markets.
A senior FATF source told CNN-News18 that the watchdog has raised concerns over Pakistan emerging as a hub for hawala-hundi operations, with Afghan and Iranian smugglers reportedly using its grey markets to transfer US dollars.
The source further said that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is allegedly manipulating foreign exchange dealers to carry out large, illegal transactions outside formal banking systems.
The upcoming review will assess Pakistan's compliance with 34 action points agreed upon with FATF and APG in 2022.
During the visit, the team is also expected to meet senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Investment Finance Commission (SIFC), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), intelligence agencies, and other key institutions.
According to intelligence reports, Pakistan's security agencies, including the ISI, Military Intelligence (MI), and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), are allegedly involved in hawala operations.
The reports further claim that in the last two weeks, senior Pakistani army intelligence officers, including ISI Director General Major General Faisal Naseer, met with forex dealers in an attempt to hide financial trails and avoid potential disclosures to FATF inspectors.
Additionally, New Delhi has filed several complaints with FATF, especially after the Pahalgam terror attack in April 22, the source revealed.
The most recent complaint relates to a public post by Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on social media platform X. In the post, Naqvi accused a senior government official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) of paying ransom money to the Taliban. The post was made in response to KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's criticism of ISI operations and potential military action in the province.
The FATF visit in August will be critical. The outcomes of its preliminary assessment will determine whether Pakistan once again risks being placed on the FATF 'grey list'.
The country has previously been grey-listed three times: from February 2008 to June 2010, February 2012 to February 2015, and from June 2018 to October 2022.
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