FinCEN Files: 6 Pakistani Banks accused of carrying out potentially suspicious transactions

September 21, 2020 (MLN): There were as many as 29 suspicious transactions that took place between Pakistani banks and the rest of the world, an investigation by ICIJ revealed on Monday.

The investigation titled ‘FinCEN Files’ further revealed that nearly USD 1,942,560 were received by Pakistan and USD 425,000 were sent to various parts across the world.

Furthermore, up to 6 Pakistani Banks, namely Allied Bank Limited, United Bank Limited, Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, Bank Alfalah Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, and Habib Bank Limited, were flagged as potentially suspicious in the FinCEN Files documents.

Allied Bank topped the list for making 12 transactions out of the total 29, with receipts totaling USD 1,001,170. UBL, on the other hand, made 8 transactions for receiving USD 399,620.

Habib Metro allegedly made 2 transactions for receiving USD 74,980, whereas Standard Charted made 4 transactions for receiving USD 199,860. Habib Bank Limited was part of only one transaction wherein it received USD 167,450.

Bank Alfalah emerged as the only Pakistani bank that was a part of a two-way transaction, as it sent UD 452,000 and received USD 99,480.

It was further revealed that these transactions were processed via 2 U.S.-based banks, which filed suspicious activity reports with FinCEN.

Some of the main highlights of the investigation show that global banks moved more than $2 trillion between 1999 and 2017 in payments they believed were suspicious, and flagged bank clients in more than 170 countries who were identified as being involved in potentially illicit transactions. The figures include $514 billion at JPMorgan Chase and $1.3 trillion at Deutsche Bank.

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