LONDON, 17 JUNE (DNA) – The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is reportedly linked to more than seventy bank accounts in London. UK police documents obtained by the BBC revealed that twenty-six of the accounts are in the name of MQM leader Altaf Hussain.

Six British detectives were recently in Pakistan seeking co-operation in the alleged money-laundering case. The Scotland Yard documents, which include details of both open and closed bank accounts, were submitted to Pakistan’s Federal Investigations Agency (FIA) as part of a British request for assistance.

The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service is already considering whether leading MQM officials should be charged with money-laundering offences but police say that does not stop them making further inquiries.

“The investigation continues and any further relevant information would be discussed with the CPS,” said a spokesperson at Scotland Yard. The MQM has said Scotland Yard’s claims about the bank accounts are baseless.

British police have been investigating the MQM for several years but the investigations have picked up the pace after a meeting in London in April between Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and British Home Secretary Theresa May.

During their investigation into the murder of Farooq the police found £167,525.92 (about $235,000) in the MQM’s offices in London and a further £289,785.32 in Hussain’s home in Edgware, north London.

Previous investigations in London uncovered a list in Altaf Hussain’s home numbers of weapons, including mortars, grenades and bomb-making equipment. The list included prices for the weapons.

In 2010, MQM founding member Imran Farooq was stabbed to death in London. Party insiders say he had major differences with Husain before his death. Altaf Husain is now under investigation in Britain for Farooq’s murder, as well as charges of money-laundering. DNA