This he said while discussing measures taken by his government to deter Terror Financing with an American delegation comprising US Congressman Jim Himes, Sean Patrick Maloney, US Congressman and Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Consul General of the USA Robert Silberstein, deputy Consul General Darian Arky, Ms Amanda Rogers Thrope, Aaron Thurman, Ms Lisa Major, Neil Philips and Saleh Shah. The chief minister was assisted by Secretary Home Kazi Kabir and PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro.
The chief minister said that 59 properties of Jamat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insanyat Foundation and Jaishe Mohammad and six properties of Tahreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan have been seized/frozen under UNSC Act 1948 and UNSC Freezing & Seizure Order 2019. Shah said that Sindh was land of Sufis and its people were tolerant. Therefore, the existence of any proscribed organization or entity have not been traced here, therefore no arrest or prosecution of any individual in connection with UN Sanction Regime 1267 and 1373 has been made.
Talking about Terror Finance related cases, Murad Ali Shah said that 47 [Terror Financing] cases have been registered and were being investigated by Counter Terrorism Department of Sindh police. "Provincial Home department constitutes JITs members from State comprising members from State Bank of Pakistan, Financial Monitoring Unit and in Complex Terror Financing cases as per requirement of CTD, Sindh.
Talking about Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs), the chief minister said that 527 or 11.5 percent of all active NPOs survey was conducted to assess their vulnerability regarding Terror Financing. The Survey data has also been shared with Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan. He added that 4,693 inactive or non-functional NPOs have been de-registered, whereas further 2828 inactive NPOs were in process of de-registration by Social Welfare Department. He went on saying that 1613 NPOs registered with Industries & Commerce department were also in process of de-registration in the first phase. Shah said that there were 25,426 NPOs registered in Sindh, of the 14,834 with Industries department and 10,592 NPOS with Social Welfare department.
The chief minister disclosed that 19 NPOs were under investigation in Sindh, Out of that 14 NPOs were affiliated of the proscribed Organizations such as JuD, FIF and JeM, whereas five NPOs were being investigated for their Terror Financing vulnerability. He also said that after enactment of Sindh Charities Act 2019 law in Sindh, action against the unregistered NPOs would be started. The said draft law has been approved by the provincial cabinet members.
The chief minister said that various policies such as NPOs registration and SOPs regarding collection of skins and hides have been issued and enforced to plug the implementation gaps in order to address Terror Financing related issues. Talking about anti-money laundering action taken by the Sindh government, Murad Ali Shah said that he had constituted a Taskforce on Anti-Money Laundering under Home Secretary. The Taskforce has directed stakeholders such as Pakistan Customs, Airports Security Force and Federal Investigation Agency for establishment of Currency Detection Units at major airports to deter and detect currency smuggling.
The chief minister said that capacity-building of government officials was made by holding seminar and workshops with relevant stakeholders, including DCs, commissioners, secretaries of relevant departments and agencies where UNSC Sanctions regime was explained and all the relevant information/guidance was shared with the participants. The visiting delegation appreciated the efforts made by the government to control terror financing.