Shaheen Air commits Rs11.5b default against HBL,UBL
Shaheen Air International (SAI) has allegedly committed a “willful default” worth Rs11.5 billion against two leading banks- Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) and United Bank Ltd (UBL).
It caused a default of Rs 11 billion against the HBL and Rs50m UBL.
Dawn reported that FIA has initiated the process of attachment of properties, including aircraft, of the Shaheen Air International (SAI) in a money laundering case against several now-liquidated airline executives, which emerged on Friday.
The Federal Investigation Agency had registered a case against SAI last year on the charges of causing a loss of Rs2.1 billion to the Civil Aviation Authority, according to officials and documents reviewed by Dawn.
FIA deputy director Rauf Sheikh said that the Sialkot International Airport allegedly faces a loss of Rs 200 million due to Shaheen Air . The airline’s owners allegedly established firms in the United Arab Emirates and purchased properties in Pakistan and abroad using this money, said the officer
Munir Ahmed Sheikh director Sindh FIA told that agency had registered a case against SAI CEO Ehsan Khalid Sehbai and eight other directors on July 13, 2020, on misappropriation of the amount owed to the CAA.
Munir Ahmed Sheikh further added the suspects were subsequently allegedly laundered the proceeds of crime in different bank accounts in Pakistan and abroad and purchased properties using this money.
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He also told that the concerned court had granted the FIA approval to temporarily seize the properties involved in money laundering, identified so far against SAI directors.
FIA had registered a case against SAI officials last year following an inquiry the FIA Corporate Crime Circle, Karachi conducted.
Case was registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 489-F (dishonouring of cheque), 109 (abetment), 34 (common criminal intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Sections 3 & 4 of AML Act, 2010 (money laundering).
Besides Ehsan Sehbai, the SAI management members who were booked in the case included directors Kashif Mahmud, Sabrina Kalsoom Sehbai, Javed Karim, Janet Sehbai, Hoshing P. Sidhwa, Rashida Yasmeen, Yawar Mehmood, and Mohammad Wasiq. Yawar Mehmood Sehbai had been arrested last year who happens to be one of the directors.
