KARACHI, 13 August 2006 — One of the leading Pakistani newspaper has reported that a UK-based Islamic charity organization remitted a huge amount of money to three individuals in three different bank accounts in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, in December last year with the sole purpose of helping its recipients and their organizations carry out the aircraft bombing plan in the UK. The Daily Times claimed that an investigation carried out by its reporters showed that Muslim Charity of UK remitted not so long ago a huge sum of money under the head of “earthquake relief” to the accounts of three individuals in three different banks — Saudi Pak Bank, Standard Chartered and Habib Bank Ltd.
One of these banks is UK based and has its presence in Azad Kashmir because of a huge number of British citizens of Kashmir origin in the UK. The money was transferred from UK to banks in Azad Kashmir through Barclays Plc.
The paper said two of the recipients of the transaction are British citizens of Kashmiri origin while the third is an Islamabad-based builder, also of Kashmiri origin.
They were arrested in the last two weeks at three different places in the country. One of them was arrested in Karachi, the “builder” was arrested in Islamabad while the place of arrest of the third suspect is not known. Details were not available about these three suspects with regard to their links with organizations such as Al-Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taiba or both.
Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) investigators were apparently tipped off by the British authorities about the fund transfers and asked to investigate. Following their arrests the three suspects revealed some key elements of the aircraft bombing plan during interrogations by various agency personnel, who were also aided by at least one expert specializing in money laundering. “Neither the amount nor the purpose for which the money was sent caused any concern in the British investigation unit,” said a senior official.
“What raised alarm among British sleuths specializing in finances was the fact that the entire money was remitted to three individuals, not to any organization or organizations involved in the relief work,” he said.
