Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar will leave for United Kingdom (UK) next week to pursue the pending cases of extradition from the Britain, including that of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Speaking at a news conference here on Sunday, Akbar said that he would be carrying a list of pending cases of extradition during his visit to the UK. During the visit, he said that he would also hold talks with chief of the British National Crime Agency (NCA) and other relevant authorities on the pending requests of extradition including that of the former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
He further said that they are also exploring the option of initiating civil proceedings in Britain as it will ensure early repatriation of the plundered amount.
After the recent signing of justice and accountability agreement with the UK aimed at bringing back the stolen money, he said that similar agreements would also be signed with United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China for the exchange of information and joint investigation to check the money laundering. He said that the treaty with Britain will help speed up the investigations into different high profile asset cases, adding that Pakistan has solicited details of 33 companies from the British NCA. He said that the government has finalized a broad based mutual legal assistance (MLA) law to obtain evidence from foreign jurisdictions about financial crimes and mega corruption cases involving Pakistanis. The law will soon be placed before the cabinet and it will be brought first through an ordinance and then presented before the parliament, he added.
He said the new law will be more open and will empower the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to carry out the investigations as per the international treaties.
About the Swiss cases, he said that a bilateral treaty is again being ratified with the Swiss government which will enable the country to get the details of the bank accounts opened by Pakistani nationals.
The Special Assistant said that government is also in talks with German government to obtain the information it had acquired from Swiss banks. He pointed out that 26 countries including India have so far obtained the data from German government, but the previous governments did not bother to approach the German government.
"We have already requested the German government and we are hopeful that the German authorities would consider Pakistan's request," he expressed the optimism, adding that it will help the government obtain the details of the Pakistanis having their accounts in the Swiss banks.
Shahzad Akbar said that over the last decade or so no effort was made for the asset recovery despite the fact that countries such as China and India achieved great success in the asset recovery.
Referring to a report by the US State Department, he said that $9 billion to $10 billion of money laundering was annually taking place from Pakistan in the past unchecked. However, he said that relevant institutions such as FIA have been activated and being fully supported, therefore, cases of corruption and those of fake accounts are being unearthed.
He said that the system has now been streamlined and a 'special asset recovery unit' has been established in the Prime Minister office which is working under his supervision.
Akbar said that the government will pursue any traces of the black money transferred anywhere through illegal means. Besides, he said that the government is also in the process of upgrading of the treaty with up to 70 countries included in the 'tax haven'. The special assistant said that a crack down is continued against the fake accounts, saying that a joint investigation team (JIT) has been constituted which would complete the investigation. After the completion of the investigations into the fake account cases, he said that the NAB would initiate references against the accused.
He held the previous governments responsible for current economic situation of the country, adding that besides huge debt burden, the losses of public sector enterprises stood over one trillion rupees.
He maintained that the PTI government inherited economic crisis from the previous governments, adding that the country's foreign debt has reached to Rs 30,000 billion allegedly due to the faulty policies of the previous government.
About the cases of assets and properties of Pakistanis in the UAE, he said that investigations are underway into the matter, adding that some Pakistani citizens have taken benefits of the amnesty scheme during the previous PML-N government and this aspect is also being probed to check whether or not the benefits availed by them were on political grounds.
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