A customs court here on Thursday indicted model Ayyan Ali after eight months for attempting to smuggle out of the country more than half a million dollars in cash. She has pleaded not guilty.
The court has summoned prosecution witnesses on December 8 to record their statements in the currency smuggling case.
Rejecting the arguments of her counsel Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, Judge Rana Aftab Ahmed indicted Ayyan just over eight months after she was arrested.
The special court of customs, excise and taxation had dismissed Ayyan's acquittal plea on Nov 6. She then filed an acquittal plea in the Lahore High Court, which the court admitted for hearing.
The model was arrested on Mar 14, 2015, on charges of money laundering after being caught with over half a million dollars by customs officials at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
She was granted bail in July after spending around four months in Rawalpindi's notorious Adiala Jail ─ and after her judicial remand was extended 16 times.
Ayyan, who maintains she is 21 years old, was reportedly booked to travel on a flight to Dubai when customs officials recovered US $506,000 from her luggage before she could board the plane.
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