ISLAMABAD: In line with the new agreement signed between governments of Pakistan and Switzerland, the government is likely to get all details about the offshore and numbered bank accounts of Pakistanis in four to six weeks’ time and the information would be used to bring back the looted national wealth.
The claim was made by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar at a presser on Wednesday. He said that the federal cabinet had also decided to sign agreements with the British Virgin Islands while the government was also going to sign another agreement with German government so that the details of offshore accounts of Pakistanis could also be obtained and efforts for recovery of looted national wealth could be made.
Akbar said the agreement between Pakistan and Switzerland on sharing of bank accounts details was signed and ratified and being implemented since November 30.
He said that the agreement with Switzerland to gain information about foreign bank accounts of Pakistanis was a great achievement. He also said the previous governments deliberately avoided signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Switzerland for the past many years. Akbar said that it was essential to understand the framework of the treaty to make the exchange of information possible.
He said that Switzerland was kept information of bank accounts highly confidential, however, now they had agreed to share the data according to the provisions of the treaty. Agreements for exchange of information about bank accounts with other countries would also be signed but it would take some time, he added.
He lamented that six years were wasted in the ratification of the treaty, adding that the government was also in contact with the German government for the sharing of bank accounts information. Akbar said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif spent Rs250 million on his 25 private visits abroad on government’s expense and the case was referred to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which would investigate the misuse of authority.
Sharing details, he said that Sharif visited Jeddah on a private visit for offering Umrah with 28 people and the money was spent from the national exchequer. He said that the former premier went on private visits to the United Kingdom (UK), China and Saudi Arabia. He said that Sharif had not announced another flat registered under the name of his late wife, Kalsoom Nawaz in London.
