FinCEN Files: Pakistan's Altaf Khanani got huge sums from account in Danske Bank

After Panama Leaks the world of global finance is yet again rocked by the latest leaks called the FinCEN Files, which shows how the world’s leading banks were involved in money laundering for suspicious individuals.

The FinCEN Files, which is a list of thousands of documents containing over 2,100 leaked Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by banks and other financial firms with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) have shed light on one such case involving the infamous money-launderer from Pakistan Altaf Khanani.

As per the documents, Altaf Khanani, who was arrested by the US Authorities back in 2015 exchanged large and suspicious sums for accounts in Denmark’s bank namely Danske Bank's branch in Estonia through one of his central companies, the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende reported.

According to the report, the leaked documents show, that a customer of Danske Bank's branch, which according to the newspaper has hidden owners, exchanged millions with the Dubai -registered company Mazaka General Trading, which US authorities have linked to Khanani.

“There can only be one reason why money has been moved out of Danske Bank and into his trading companies - and that is money laundering. Because that was the only thing that happened in those companies,” says Richard Grant, the former head of the Australian intelligence service told DR, a Danish news platform.

Back in September 2015, the US authorities arrested Altaf Khanani for involvement in laundering funds for designated terrorist organizations.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement, “The Khanani Money Laundering Organisation (MLO) is a TCO composed of individuals and entities operating under the supervision of Pakistani national Altaf Khanani, who the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested this September.”

“The Khanani MLO facilitates illicit money movement between Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other countries, and is responsible for laundering billions of dollars in organized crime proceeds annually,” the statement added.

Further, the statement accused Khanani Money Laundering Organisation (MLO) of laundering illicit funds for organized crime groups, drug trafficking organizations, and designated terrorist groups throughout the world.

“Altaf Khanani, the head of the Khanani MLO, and Al Zarooni Exchange have been involved in the movement of funds for the Taliban, and Altaf Khanani is known to have had relationships with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Dawood Ibrahim, al Qaeda, and Jaish-e-Mohammed,” the statement further said.