The Senate Finance Committee was convened under Senator Farooq Naik in Parliament House Islamabad. The meeting discussed the Anti-Money Laundering Amendment Bill 2019.

DGFMU Mansur Saddiqui briefed the Committee on the Anti-Money Laundering Bill.

However, the Committee dismissed the proposal of confiscating the property of the convict for a year. Yet, the proposal for confiscating the property for six months was approved by the Committee.

In addition, the Committee rejected the proposal of allowing the arrest of the accused of money laundering without the permission of the magistrate. The accused of money laundering could only be arrested following the approval of a judge or a magistrate.

Committee also rejected the proposal of extending the investigative authority to any other agency except the Financial Monitoring Unit.

The Committee members expressed their reservations over the government-sponsored amendments, saying that the laws are misused.

Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq said that laws should not be used for political purposes, while Senator Shibli Faraz said that under-invoicing should be monitored in order to control money laundering.

DGFMU Mansur Saddiqui said that ignoring the FATF’s recommendations could lead to severe consequences.

A report will be sent to the FATF by tomorrow.