Famous model and actress, Ayyan Ali, was taken into custody at Islamabad airport over charges of money laundering. According to the Custom officials, they seized over $500,000 currency notes from Ms. Ayyan’s luggage.
A case was registered against Ayyan under the Customs Act. She was then presented before a special judge who sent her on a 14-day judicial remand.
Ms. Ayyan was bound for Dubai when the customs officials found about 506,800 US Dollars in her luggage. The maximum amount of currency a person is allowed to carry is just $5000 US dollars. It used to be $10,000, however Pakistani government had reduced it to $5000 in January of 2014 when it was found that the limit was being abused by money launderers.
Article 3(B) of the Anti Money Laundering Act of Pakistan, makes it an offence to conceal or disguise the true nature, origin, location, disposition, movement or ownership of property, knowing or having reason to believe, that such property is proceeds of crime. Similarly, Article 3(C) further adds that holding or possessing such property on behalf of any other person, would also be a considered a crime.
According to the same act, any person found guilty of money laundering will face rigorous imprisonment of at least one year which could be extended to ten years. The person might also be subjected to a maximum fine of one million rupees. Also, the property involved might also be confiscated.
However, it is not yet known whether the money recovered from Ms. Ayyan was her own or whether she was laundering it for someone else.
Ayyan quickly rose to fame in Pakistan when she started her modeling career in 2010. She won the Best Female Emerging Model award the same year. In 2013, she became the brand ambassador of Magnum Ice Cream.
In addition to modeling, she has regularly starred in various Ufone commercials.