ISLAMABAD   -  Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar Monday disclosed that they have so far traced out unlawful assets worth $5.3 billion (around 700 billion Pakistani rupees) from ten countries.

Addressing a press conference along with Senator Faisal Javed Khan and Special Assistant to PM on Media Affairs Iftikhar Durrani here, Shahzad said it is for the first time that any government has started illegal assets recovery process to bring the looted money back to the country.

He said the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), which he heads, is initially targeting only the big fish and they have traced out 5,000 fake accounts being used for sending huge amounts of money.

The adviser said out of this $ 5.3 billion, an amount of $ 1.3 billion was directly transferred to other countries through money laundering.

He said the unit has initially traced out the said assets through probing into the assets which are above worth one million dollars, and the assets below this amount will be checked in the next phase.

Shahzad Akbar said the recovery unit is facing some hurdles due to Iqama (residency permits) held by some accused and those assets which are in the names of drivers, gardeners, cook etc.

He said Pakistan was one of the biggest countries whose citizens possess real estate property in Dubai and the United Kingdom. The properties worth $15 billion have been traced in only Dubai and these are the big tool of money laundering.

The Adviser said money laundering has left devastating impact on our national economy. Unfortunately the size of our whole economy is equal to the black economy which exists in parallel and if the plundered money is added to the economy, it will regain strength.

He said misuse of Iqama has become a source of money laundering in the country. He said there are two types of Iqamas, one of them is possessed by the workers from Pakistan who earn money abroad and send a big chunk of it back home while the other type of Iqama is used by the politicians and big names for the purpose of money laundering.

Shahzad Akbar informed that negotiation process was continuing with Dubai government for sharing details of Iqama holders and their assets.

All the countries were extending great cooperation and willingness in sharing the required assets details which reflect their trust in the present leadership of Pakistan, he said.

He said that further information would be shared with the people as the ARU deciphers the data received from various countries, including Dubai Land Authorities.

To a question about bringing the traced looted Rs700 billion back to the country, Shahzad Akbar said the more difficult task was tracing out illegal wealth which is being accomplished very successfully.

He said this money will be brought back to Pakistan through fulfilling all legal requirements in the respective countries while the process of freezing accounts has been started.

To a question about progress on assets’ retrieval, Shahzad said they have served the notices and investigation is in process with involvement of all the relevant departments of Federal Investigation Department (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and State Bank of Pakistan.

He said he would not pas comments on cases of individuals. He however revealed that so far the government had not filed even a single case against anyone in this regard. It was Supreme Court which made JITs to probe into such cases, he added.

To a question, he Shahzad Akbar said the decision in Hill Metal case against the Sharif family would be decided in few days and he will disclose further details after the decision of the court.

Responding to a question, he explained that these illegal assets belong to 10 jurisdictions (countries) and Switzerland is not included in it.

Speaking on the occasion, Iftikhar Durrani reiterated the government stance of continuing the accountability process across the board despite all hue and cries.

He that properties worth $15 billion were acquired by Pakistanis in Dubai only during the last 10 years.

Durrani said that ARU was working in collaboration with other institutions to trace the ill-gotten money.

About the NAB cases, he said that most of the cases had been opened by Pakistan People’s Party and PML-N against each other during their respective tenures.

About assets retrieval cases based on ARU investigation, he said the government had opened any case against anyone so far and the relevant persons would be informed before opening any case against them.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Faisal Javed also said that PTI government was committed to curbing corruption and money laundering at all costs as per its election manifesto.

He said the crackdown against those having illegal assets will be a great game-changer for the country and help restore masses’ confidence in the government. He congratulated ARU for tracing out these illegal assets in such a short span of time.

The senator said no government in the history of our country was honest enough to grab the corrupt and money launderers. The present leadership has no such aim as making money for itself, rather, it is working for empowering the oppressed segments of society.

He said that the government was sharing information regarding mega scams in first 100 days and it would make accountable to the people those who looted Rs24 billion in last 10 years.

Faisal said that the government was collecting details of all ‘aqama’ holders Pakistanis and share the details with the people on appropriate time.

He said that PTI government will also share information of those people who hid their money in Europe and Switzerland.

 

Rs700 billion
laundered to 10 countries