–FIA report says estimated worth of properties owned by 894 Pakistanis in UAE is around $100bn
–35 politicians, close aides among people who own expensive properties in Dubai
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday ordered the government to present in court 20 Pakistanis who had declared their foreign properties in the previous government’s amnesty scheme on Nov 1.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, who was heading a three-member bench, issued the orders while hearing a case pertaining to the foreign accounts held by Pakistanis.
During Thursday’s hearing, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Jahanzaib Khan, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Bashir Memon, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Tariq Bajwa and the attorney general appeared before the court.
The FIA submitted in the court a report detailing foreign properties of Pakistani citizens.
“You’ve stated that the foreign properties owned by Pakistanis are estimated at $100 billion,” the CJP said while addressing the FIA chief. “A dam could be built in Pakistan with such a huge amount.”
While briefing the bench, Memon revealed that 894 Pakistanis have properties in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Out of these, 374 individuals have taken advantage of the government’s amnesty scheme, 150 people have admitted that they have properties abroad, 69 people said they have shown their properties in their tax returns and 82 people denied having any property abroad.
The FIA DG said that 150 people out of the total 894 own 203 properties, with each estimated to be worth a minimum of Rs50 million.
He also told the SC that 35 politicians and their associates own properties in Dubai. It was further stated that nine ‘benamidaars’ have been identified as well as 150 “extremely rich individuals who own properties worth Rs30 billion”.
“When will you take action [against the suspects]?,” the CJP asked Memon, who responded that the FIA has restrained itself for two months because of the government’s amnesty scheme.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Bajwa informed the court that it is now “very difficult” to launder money of the country.
When asked by the CJP why the government was not taking action against the identified suspects, the attorney general stated that the government could not arrest these people under the law.
The SBP chief informed the court that the agency has details of foreign properties of several people, but possesses no details of their bank accounts and neither do their banks fall in the jurisdiction of local laws.
The court was further informed by the SBP governor that the UK has initiated information sharing with Pakistan from September 1.
At this, the bench ordered that 20 people who own properties abroad be produced in the court at the next hearing and directed the AG to issue notices and arrest individuals who have transferred funds abroad illegally and to present 10 individuals before the court who have not paid their taxes.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned till November 1.
After the hearing, AGP Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted a list of 20 Pakistanis who have claimed amnesty 2018 including Waqar Ahmed of Lahore, Naushad Haroon Chamdia CEO Std. Securities (pvt.) Limited of Karachi, Muhammad Amin of Karachi, Zubair Mueen of Lahore, Sheikh Tahir & Majid Kapur of Sialkot,Islam Salim of Karachi, Agha Faisal of Quetta, Syed Muhammad Ali of Karachi, Nayar Sheikh of Lahore, Khawaja Muhammad Ramzan of Lahore, Muhammad Saeed Minhas of Gujranwala, Imtiaz Fazal of Multan, Fawad Anwar of Karachi, Abdul Aziz Rajkotwala of Karachi,Noureen Sami Khan of Islamabad, Humayun Bashir of Karachi, Shujhur Rehman Goraya of Lahore, Sardar Mumtaz Khan of Islamabad, Sardar Dildar Ahmed Cheema of Lahore and Faisal Hussain of Karachi.
