Beneath Dubai’s dazzling skyline is buried shadow banking operations and hawala networks, which have quietly moved illicit funds across continents. At the core of this empire were Altaf Khanani and Javed Khanani, the masterminds behind one of Pakistan’s largest cross-border money-laundering networks. This was the truth behind the dramatic thrillers that Bollywood films like Dhurandhar have long portrayed. The reality is striking! India’s monetary subversion was secretly, strategically, and profitably orchestrated through Karachi offices and Dubai’s global hawala networks.
The Khanani brothers were the ones who ran Khanani & Kalia International (KKI), which the US Treasury later designated as a “significant transnational criminal organisation”. They quietly moved illicit money from Karachi to Dubai, Toronto, and East Africa. The network funded terror groups, narcotics, and shadow banking operations under ISI’s close watch.
Who was Javed Khanani?
Javed Khanani wasn’t a comic villain and looked nothing like how Bollywood Hindi villains are portrayed. He was linked to KKI’s fraudulent operations. Javed kept a low profile, but his role as a shadow banker was under scrutiny for years. He died in 2016 in Karachi under circumstances that remain unclear, at a time when India declared demonetisation, which rocked informal financial networks in the region.
By the mid-2000s, Javed Khanani was not an ordinary currency dealer. Indian intelligence agencies and the United States had declared that KKI was a “financial switchboard” for terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and D-Company.
Who is Altaf Khanani?
Born in 1961, Altaf Khanani later became one of the most notorious money launderers. He operated a sprawling cross-border network that allegedly moved illicit money for drug cartels and terror groups. He used the hawala system to transfer funds across Pakistan, North America, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia.
Atlaf was arrested and extradited to the US in 2016 on money-laundering conspiracy charges. He was released in July 2020 after serving three years in prison.
Circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes
While Khananis quietly handles global cash flows, India was grappling with the crisis of circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN). The effect of every note printed, moved, and laundered through Khananis’ network was catastrophic.
On 8 November 2016, India announced demonetisation and banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Within a month, on 4 December 2016, Khanani reportedly died after falling from the fourth floor of an under-construction building in Karachi. The circumstances related to his death, however, continue to be debated.
The ‘Khanani brothers’ in Dhurandhar
Ankit Sagar plays the role of Javed Khanani, while Mushtaq Naika portrays Altaf Khanani in Dhurandhar. Both their performances closely mirror the brothers’ real-life public personas.
