The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through the legal attaché at the US embassy in Islamabad has asked the Government of Pakistan to expedite investigations against a Pakistani foreign exchange agent whom they suspect to be involved in terror financing. Mehboob Kukaswadia was offloaded from a Dubai-bound Emirate Airlines flight at Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, Karachi, with un-assorted foreign currency (other than US dollars) worth 1.7 million US dollars on September 14, 2004. In 2002, the legal attaché of US embassy in Islamabad had for the first time sought information about Mr Kukaswadia saying he had sent a huge amount of US dollars to Dubai via wire transfers. The legal attaché at the US embassy in Islamabad had conveyed to the ministry of interior that the FBI had arrested two Pakistani-Americans in Chicago on information provided by the Federal Reserve Bank New York that their (two Pakistanis) currency trading firm was involved in transferring more than 120 million US dollars to Mr Kukaswadia. The legal attaché at the US embassy had conveyed to the ministry of interior that the FBI had arrested Abdul Rauf Noor Mohammed, president of Chicago-based currency trading firm Money Express (formerly known as Pakistan Express International), and its registered agent Junaid R Noor Mohammed on the basis of information provided by the Federal Reserve Bank New York.
The record provided to the FBI by the Federal Reserve Bank showed that 120 million US dollars were transferred to Mr Kukaswadia, primarily through Money Express. In its initial report sent to the FBI, the interior ministry had given a positive finding on the aspect of money laundering saying that Mr Kukaswadia at the time of sending money through Pakistan Express International had shown himself as a resident of 118, New Nauman Road, Kharadar, Karachi, and the amount was actually transferred to a non-resident Pakistani account at Askari Commercial Bank Limited where Mr Kukaswadia’s address was shown as P O Box No 4692, Dubai. The initial report sent in March shows that Mr Kukaswadia has dual nationality of Pakistan and Canada.