ISLAMBAD: A parliamentary committee on Friday unanimously decided to sendthe case of illegal investments of over $8 billion by Pakistanis in theDubai real estate sector to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) forinvestigation.
Headed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh, theNational Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance took the decision on therecommendations of its subcommittee that had been constituted to look intothe issue.
Members from all political parties unanimously decided to hand the caseover to the anti-graft body, which is the only institution that can dealwith Dubai authorities under a legal framework. The subcommittee came tothe conclusion that no other state institution had the capability to getthe information on a fast-track basis, and that NAB would have to adopt thesame procedures it used to get information about former prime ministerNawaz Sharif’s assets named in the Panama Papers.
PML-N’s Shezra Mansab headed the subcommittee panel and the major input wasgiven by Asad Umar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The sub-committeehad been set up to look into the modus operandi of sending abroad $8billion; whether that money could be brought back and how future overseasinvestments by individuals could be stopped.
All the investment made in the Dubai’s real estate are illegal, as theState Bank of Pakistan has already informed the committee that the centralbank never gave the permission to any individual to invest in the realestate sector anywhere in the world. The money laundering and terrorismfinancing remain a serious issue, as the wealth generated through illegalmeans or by evading taxes is either invested in the real estate in Pakistanor channeled to other destinations like Dubai.
During Friday’s proceedings, fresh revelations were also made about thedubious role of the Federal Board of Revenue in the Dubai real estateinvestigation case. PTI’s Asad Umer and a senior journalist from a privatenews channel claimed that the FBR was in possession of a list of thousandsof Pakistanis, who have investment stakes in Dubai. But during the meetingsof the subcommittee, both the FBR and the Federal Investigation Agencydenied that they knew about the Pakistanis who invested abroad. “During ourcommittee’s proceedings, the FBR kept lying and gave misstatement that itdid not have any information about the people who invested abroad,” saidUmar.
“According to my information, the report about 3,000 Pakistanis, whoinvested in Dubai, was in the possession of FBR Chairman Tariq Pasha andformer finance minister Ishaq Dar,” said Umar. A senior journalist from aprivate news channel claimed that he obtained a list from sources in theFBR that carried the names of more than 5,000 Pakistanis who ownedproperties in Dubai. During the subcommittee’s proceedings, the FIAdirector had informed the committee that the agency has shared a list of100 people who own properties in Dubai with the FBR. Neither the FBR northe FIA told about the existence of the list carrying the names ofthousands of Pakistanis.
FBR (Member) Inland Revenue Policy Dr Mohammad Iqbal claimed before thestanding committee that he did not have knowledge of the existence of anysuch list.
But Minister of State for Finance Rana Mohammad Afzal said that the federalgovernment could take action only where the information was authentic andobtained through legal channels. Umer, challenging the contention, saidformer finance minister Ishaq Dar had talked about $200 billion wealth ofPakistanis stashed in Switzerland. “Despite that, he did not get thisinformation from official channels.”