The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has said that there is no evidence that famous singer Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was involved in money laundering, tax evasion or any other illegal activity.
Pakistan’s top investigative agency has confirmed it has closed its investigation into a suspected money laundering and tax evasion case involving a hit singer due to a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing.
The Additional Director FIA Lahore Zone confirmed that the competent authority has authorized the closure of the investigation against Rahat Ali Khan and others in accordance with the recommendations issued by the Field Investigation Unit which recommended the closure of the investigation against Mr. Khan. No evidence was found in the available records to implicate Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in illegal currency smuggling, a senior FIA officer said.
According to details provided by FIA Lahore, an investigation was initiated in January this year against Rahat Ali Khan and 182 other frequent flyers who departed from Lahore International Airport for work abroad. That investigation was prompted by frequent flyer data, with a particular focus on identifying those involved in currency smuggling or money laundering, the report said.
It is worth mentioning here that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a money laundering and tax evasion investigation against popular singer Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and others based on their travel record.
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The FIA said: “Details of 182 passengers were provided by the Deputy Director of Immigration at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport. Proceedings were subsequently launched to identify any frequent flyer caught smuggling currency or money laundering. Mr. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s name was also included in the frequent flyer list. However, on the basis of available records, nothing has been found against Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to indicate that he is involved in the illegal currency trade.
Recently, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s former manager Salman Ahmed said that the singer earned over eight billion rupees in 12 years from local and international concerts. He asked the Pakistani authorities to investigate the matter, but sources in the relevant ministries said that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan had been paying his taxes on time and remained current and compliant with the law.
Sources in the FIA and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been paying taxes on all his local and international income. Sources said that the FIA decided to extradite Rahat Fateh Ali Khan after consultation with the FBR and after checking Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s tax records, which were found to be up-to-date and tax compliant. laws.
The FBR had earlier issued several notices to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in tax matters, but his accountants cleared all the charges.
