The spokesman for the Ministry of Finance here categorically rejected a news item appeared in a section of media regarding allegations of money laundering against Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar. The spokesman said the money laundering case was thrown out by the Lahore High Court as far back as 1996, yet unscrupulous elements keep referring to it for ulterior purposes.
"It is clarified that the said case was made against the Minister during the Musharraf era for putting undue pressure on Senator Ishaq Dar to join the federal government," the spokesman said in a statement issued here on Friday. The said politically-motivated case had died its natural death in 1996 but the Musharraf regime sought to resurrect it in 2000 while he was incarcerated.
The said case has been quashed by the honourable Lahore High Court Lahore vide its judgement dated 11 March 2014. This verdict has become final and should suffice to put an end to the propaganda on the subject. However, the spokesman added, a frivolous case for accumulation of assets and wealth was initiated in 2001 against the Minister based on the information given in his annual tax returns. This baseless case was made with malafide intent on an anonymous complaint. Complete information about the assets have since been provided which is in accordance with the information regularly furnished to the tax authorities and Election Commission of Pakistan, the spokesman concluded.