Rahat Fateh Ali Khan faces Money Laundering Allegations

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched an investigation against Rahat Fateh Ali Khan over his alleged role in money laundering.

The singing legend is also accused of smuggling.

It is reported that the FIA received a nine-year record of assets declared by the ‘Zaroori Tha’ singer with the tax authorities.

According to reports, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has provided recordings regarding Khan’s assets.

The assets were declared by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan between 2014 and 2022.

Copies of tax returns and asset declarations were also made and sent to the FIA for further investigation.

While Khan has not spoken about the allegations, it is not the first time that he has been embroiled in a money-related scandal.

In 2011, he was detained for $124,000 in cash at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport.

His manager Maroof Ali was also detained by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The DRI officials informed that the foreign currency was not declared to the Customs officials after the immigration checks. Khan and his troupe were on their way back to Lahore via Dubai.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Maroof Ali were each fined £20,000 for breaking foreign exchange rules.

They were later released, however, the money was confiscated.

The DRI continued to investigate where the money came from.

It was reported that Chitresh Srivastava, brother of Bollywood composer Aadesh Srivastava, was detained after his officers were raided and $200,000 was seized.

He was the event and business manager for Khan’s shows in India.

Two money exchangers from Cosmos Forex were also detained as they allegedly exchanged foreign money for Khan.

At the time, it was theorised that the money was paid in cash to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for his shows and he was unaware of the Indian laws related to travelling with money.

But Khan did not declare the money at customs which he should have done.

Investigators suggested that Khan may not be completely at fault and suspected that his team are in control of financial matters.

Commenting on the issue, Bollywood composer Pritam Chakraborty said at the time:

“Pakistani singers prefer in cash rather than cheque as per India’s singers.”

He added Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is nice and simple and not the kind of person that would go out of his way to break the law.