ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court has sentenced three men each to five years in prison for running an illegal currency exchange, the Federal Investigation Agency said on Friday, amid a widening crackdown on illegal currency trade.
Pakistan authorities have been cracking down on currency smugglers and illegal exchanges since a depreciation in worth of rupee, which fell to a 22-month low of Rs284.97 against the US dollar last month and raised widespread concerns.
The crackdown followed a meeting of Maj. Gen. Faisal Naseer, an official of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s powerful military-run spy agency, with exchange company representatives in Islamabad on July 22.
On Friday, a local court in the southern Pakistani district of Sukkur sentenced three accused, Qamar Shahzad, Muhammad Zeeshan and Zubair Asghar, to five years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs1 million ($3,517) on each, according to the FIA.
“The accused were found involved in illegal currency exchange,” the FIA said, adding it had seized Rs1 million, $20,700 and 147,000 Saudi riyals from the accused persons.
