Customs prosecutor in Ayaan’s money laundering case said earlier today that if convicted, the supermodel’s crime is so serious that she could be fined Rs500 million for smuggling out Rs50 million and may also get a jail term for 14 years.
Farhat Nawaz Lodhi made these statements before Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench during a hearing today.
On March 14, customs officials caught the supermodel with $500,000, which she was allegedly smuggling to Dubai.
Ayaan had filed a bail application which was taken up by Justice Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa. During the hearing, Ayyan’s lawyer argued that his client’s intentions were honest and she was carrying relevant documents when she was travelling from Islamabad to Dubai.
“Women get bail for committing murder and other serious crimes. My client has already served time in jail and the interrogation has been completed,” Ayaan’s lawyer Sardar Ishaq argued.
Ishaq requested the court to release his client on bail so that she can start a normal life, to which Lodhi objected, saying the probe was still under way.
Lodhi argued that the money Ayaan was carrying was recovered from her baggage which passed through scanning machine.
“The money was concealed in a bag under her personal material,” Lodhi said. “Customs department is still verifying documents provided by her legal team.”
“She committed offences under Customs Act, Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, and Import Export Control Act,” the prosecutor added.
He went on to say that two mobile phones which were also recovered from Ayaan were locked due to a pass code.
Lodhi also said the supermodel has visited 40 foreign countries in the past three years. Ishaq said there is no bar on foreign visits and his client belongs to the entertainment industry so foreign visits are commonplace.
After hearing arguments on both sides the judge reserved judgment pertaining to the case.
