ISLAMABAD: Ishaq Dar’s counsel began the cross-examination of a witness in the illegal assets reference against the former finance minister.
Muhammad Azeem, who is an official of a private bank, was cross-examined by Qazi Misbah.
Azeem stated that he had submitted Dar’s bank statement to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the court.
Interim reference against the former senator had been filed by NAB in September 2017 after the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Dar was indicted in the case and has been an absconder ever since.
NAB later filed a supplementary reference and co-accused Naeem Mehmood, Mansoor Rizvi and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Saeed Ahmed in the case. Rizvi and Mehmood are reportedly directors of a company owned by Dar.
At the last hearing on May 2, the court recorded National Assembly Finance Director Sher Dil Khan’s statement, who is a prosecution witness in the case.
Khan had apprised the court that he had appeared before NAB officials in Lahore on August 22 in 2017 and the anti-graft body had summoned Dar’s salary and allowances records from him.
The supplementary reference is grounded in seven volumes and inculcates account details of accused persons, which show transactions of at least $4 million, according to the anti-corruption watchdog’s Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq.
The SC while hearing a case pertaining to Dar’s nomination papers temporarily suspended his membership of the Senate and ordered him to appear before the apex court.