ISLAMABAD – The Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Task Force has recommended theformation of an asset recovery unit.
The assets recovery unit to target the 100 biggest owners of offshore moneyand properties.
The assets recovery unit would be located at the Prime Minister’s (PM)Office.
It will comprise representatives of the National Accountability Bureau,Federal Investigation Agency, State Bank of Pakistan and Federal Board ofRevenue (FBR) to ensure coordination between government agencies.
In compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court, the PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government wants to select around 100 major cases toestablish a precedent whereby efforts would be made to repatriate illegalwealth through the mutual legal assistance track of the OECD agreement.
It would also seek to bring home non-taxed income and proceeds ofcorruption through the enforcement of avoidance of double taxationagreements with various countries.
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The PM’s task force recommended that the asset recovery unit be formed onthe lines of the joint investigation team which probed the Panama Paperscase on the directives of the apex court.
However, independent experts believe that the PTI-led government would haveto institute major changes in taxation laws, anti-money launderingregulations, and the Protection of Economic Reforms Act 1992 to expeditethe return of illegal assets loosely estimated to be worth $200 billion.
Prime Minister Imran Khan constituted the task force, headed by BarristerShahzad Akbar, to recommend ways and means of repatriating illegal wealtheither stashed in foreign banks or turned into assets around the world.
Without providing legal cover for stern action, such as the suspension ofComputerised National Identity Cards and machine-readable passports, itwould not be an easy task, official sources said.
