Plea to stop Hareem Shah's arrest on arrival to Pakistan dismissed

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking orders to prevent police from arresting TikToker Hareem Shah upon her arrival to Pakistan.

Hareem, who is currently on a vacation in Malaysia, had filed the plea through her lawyer to avoid detention in an alleged money laundering case.

The court remarked that Hareem can file a plea to avoid arrest after reaching Pakistan if she wants.

Justice KK Agha inquired if Hareem Shah is the same woman "who claimed to have committed money laundering".

"SHC provided security to Hareem Shah earlier as well but she misused the orders favouring her. Stop playing games with the court," Justice KK Agha remarked while expressing annoyance at the social media sensation.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cannot be restricted from holding a probe, he added.

The case

The FIA had launched a money-laundering probe against Hareem after a video of her claiming to have travelled abroad with a large sum of money went viral recently.

On January 10, 2022, the TikToker uploaded a video on social media in which she could be seen flaunting two stacks of British pounds.

At this, the FIA had announced that it had initiated an investigation over Hareem's claim of having "successfully carried a hefty amount of money in cash to the United Kingdom" as against the law.

The FIA had decided to write a letter to the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) to take action against Shah.

An FIA spokesperson told Geo News that an investigation regarding Hareem's travel to the UK was already underway, adding that the celebrity had herself confessed to laundering money to the UK, following which a probe was launched.