DUBAI – Former Pakistani supermodel Ayyan Ali says she will return to the country soon, maintaining that she was wrongly implicated in the money laundering case without any evidence.
On March 14, 2015, the model was caught at Benazir Bhutto International Airport leaving the country with $506,000. Ayyan Ali, then 22, was one of the country’s top models and widely known as the face of a large mobile phone company.
Officers said they found more than $500,000 in cash which they claimed she was trying to smuggle out of Pakistan on a flight to the UAE.
On Thursday, she told journalists that she didn’t bring any harm to Pakistan and its people.
“There were two other people accompanying me at the airport, why weren’t they caught? They didn’t face any investigation and were not taken into custody,” she added.
The model went on to say that she has been facing mental ailments and once even had a minor heart attack.
Discussing the smuggling case she informed that she has changed her team of lawyers and when she will arrive in Pakistan she will respond to all the statements made regarding her.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/arrest-ayyan-ali-orders-customs-court/
Back in November 2015, Ayyan Ali pleaded guilty when she was charged for attempt to smuggle more than half of a million dollars cash out of the country.
Ayyan’s name was removed from Exit Control List (ECL) in February this year by the interior ministry after which she left the country.
Her criminal case, which remains ongoing, attracted widespread and intense media attention due to her celebrity status.
Today, away from the public glare that the incident created, billions of dollars are still believed to be being smuggled out of Pakistan each year.
