February 10, 2016
WASHINGTON: Late mob boss Iqbal Mirchi, once ranked among the world’s top 50 drug lords, has been removed from the US treasury Department’s list of “Specially Designated Nationals”, effectively ending a freeze on his assets.
February 10, 2016
WASHINGTON: Late mob boss Iqbal Mirchi, once ranked among the world’s top 50 drug lords, has been removed from the US treasury Department’s list of “Specially Designated Nationals”, effectively ending a freeze on his assets.
Iqbal Memon Merchant alias Iqbal Mirchi, considered a close aide of fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, died of a heart attack in London on August 14, 2013.
A statement issued by the Treasury Department on February 3 said Iqbal Mirchi’s name had been deleted from the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s list. The statement said he had held passports from India and the United Arab Emirates.
Iqbal Mirchi had been included in the Treasury Department’s list in 2004 for his activities as a “significant foreign narcotics trafficker” under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
In a statement issued through a British public relations firm, Iqbal Mirchi’s sons Asif Memon and Junaid Memon claimed the US Treasury Department’s action had “cleared” their father’s name. They described their father as a “businessman”.
Asif and Junaid, based in Dubai, said their father had petitioned the US authorities when they designated him a “kingpin” over drug related offences.
Erich C Ferrari of the Washington-based law firm Ferrari & Associates contended that Iqbal Mirchi’s name hadn’t been removed from the list because he had died, saying “many deceased parties still remain on the OFAC SDN List”.
The Memon brothers further said they had never met Dawood Ibrahim or had had “any communication with him”.
Courtesy: HT
