ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Mirza Shahzad Akbar has said in a video statement that Ahsan Iqbal tried to mislead the nation on the amendments in the Anti-money Laundering Act. He said that the news to arrest businessmen for 180 days was a lie. Either they do not know what the amendments are or they are misleading the nation, he said.

Shahzad Akbar said that there was no such amendment in the Anti-money Laundering Act at all; the amendments in the Act are in the light of the recommendations of FATF. The Adviser said that loopholes in the laws regarding Anti-money laundering were being rectified. The sentence was being increased from 5 to 10 years and the fine was also being increased.

He said in his video statement that all the amendments of the government were in line with the recommendations of FATF and APG. Opposition opposes NAB probe into money laundering and PML-N wants NAB removed from anti-money laundering, he added. He said that this is the NRO that they are asking for, which will not be given in any case. The NAB already exists in anti-money laundering.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020