Even after one year of court trial, Ayyan Ali, Pakistan’s stunningly beautiful super model is still not out of woods in a dollars smuggling case that remains a mystery despite incessant mainstream and social media focus.
This week a Customs Court imposed a fine of US $ 0.506 million on Ayyan Ali , exactly the amount she had tried to smuggle out of the country a year ago, when she was apprehended at Benazir Bhutto International Airport. Her release on bail came only after months of detention.
Since then the model, also dubbed as “Dollar Girl,” has been a source of crispy stories for the Pakistani media . Her court appearances look like events showcasing glamor as she sports new hair styles and glittering touches of cosmetics. A media commentary said Ali is not in a court of law but swaggering on a beauty competition ramp.
Now 23, Ali was arrested on March 14, 2015 while boarding a Dubai bound flight after authorities found her carrying $500,000 in cash in her suitcase. The amount was way above the $ 10,000 legal cash-limit that could be carried out of Pakistan.
She, however. was put in jail on money smuggling charges which she denied.
Every ”fresh date of hearing” keeps the people engaged and guessing into the mystery of the tall model. A soap opera like drama follows when Ali is brought to the court in foolproof security, escorted by a contingent of police, and followed by trailing journalists, photographers, cameramen and citizens.
In the beginning Ayyan Ali said that money was acquired legitimately from the proceeds of property sales and that she was unaware of the customs rules & regulation. But her case became mysterious when news outlets reported that the document she produced before the court were not genuine but fabricated. More enigma followed when the apparently fraudulent did not implicate her.
According to Pakistani law, in case of conviction, the model could have been forced to pay a heavy fine and face a 14-year jail term but Ali’s case seems to be different. Additionally, she is not the only one involved in money laundering. There are 28 female models who have been smuggling money from Pakistan to UAE and it’s not just a matter of millions but billions of dollars illegally sent to the Gulf state.
Some reports have linked Ayyan Ali to former president Asif Ali Zardari but such accounts have not been confirmed.
Commonly called “Hawala and Hundi” are the parallel modes of illegally transferring money from Pakistan to overseas where lot of investment is made in buying property in the United Arab Emirates, latest model cars – private jets and helicopters.
Besides, there is a constant loss in terms of cash spent on providing her special security with mobile police escorting her, judge’s time. .
Another twist to Ayyan Ali mystery came when the customs officer who arrested her was murdered. Despite a police report, and repeated appeals for justice by the family of the deceased officer no progress has been made in the case.
The Supreme Court has reserved the decision regarding removal of Ayyan Ali’s name from Exit Control List, which means Ali will remain in Pakistan for now. Meanwhile, a heap of conjectures and unending controversy wrapping her case will continue to make the rounds.
