ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has hired the services of a London based lawyer in afresh push to plead re-investigation of the money laundering case againstthe Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) London chief Altaf Hussain. Britishinvestigative agency Scotland Yard dropped the investigations into thiscase in October 2016.
The London based British lawyer, Toby Cadman, is again being considered tobe instrumental in gathering fresh evidences for the Scotland Yard and theUK Crown Prosecution Service related to money laundering cases against theMQM-London chief, Geo News has reported.
“We’ve signed an agreement with Toby Cadman weeks back to pursue moneylaundering case against Altaf Hussain,” a senior official confirmed to GeoNews on Tuesday. “Mr Cadman would represent Pakistan in three MQM-relatedcases in the UK — these cases named — money laundering, hate speech andImran Farooq murder case,” added the official who is associated with theMinistry of Interior as well as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)Investigation Team probing these cases in Pakistan.
Mr Cadman, who is an international law specialist, also defended formerpresident Pervez Musharraf in treason trial case and was instructed by thePanama JIT directly for his services to deal extensively with its affairslink with the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA). He is also a co-founder ofGuernica 37, a London-based chamber with a particular focus on defendingvictims of human rights abuses nationally and internationally.
Informed officials say that both the Ministry of Law and Justice and Officeof Attorney General of Pakistan gave go ahead to Mr Cadman’s contract. Itwas signed on 1st February of this year; officials added that Mr Cadmanaccording to the contract would act on behalf of the government of Pakistanin relation to all the matters related to Altaf Hussain. The newly-hiredlawyer would also liaise with the UK Home Office, Scotland Yard and theBritish government.
These correspondents have also learnt that Pakistan High Commissioninformed officials at Home Office in London that Toby Cadman has been hiredto pursue the matters related to Altaf Hussain by Islamabad last month. Theletter was sent by Pakistan High Commissioner in London Syed Ibn-e-Abbas toBritish authorities dealing with MQM London chief’s cases. A seniorofficial who is closely monitoring cases linked to Altaf Hussain in FIAsays although Islamabad sensed complications involved with reopening offresh investigation into MQM London chief case, it would provide some moreactionable evidences to The Crown Prosecution Service. Mr Cadman may chargePakistan around 0.7 million GBP in this case, sources said, but governmentofficials were not ready to disclose the lawyer’s fee. A source said thatToby Cadman has been charging fees since 1st of February this year. Karachibusinessperson Sarfraz Merchant, the key person in opening the moneylaundering cases against Altaf Hussain, was willing to provide freshevidence in this case, added the officials.
Mr Cadman helped the Panama JIT look into the Sharif family’s Londonproperties in July 2017 when he requested the British Home Office’s CentralAuthority International Criminality Unit to cooperate with the Pakistaniinvestigation into ex-premier Sharif’s case. The JIT head, Wajid Zia,through Cadman, wanted British authorities to verify hundreds of Britishdocuments relating to the case. Mr Cadman’s law firm had also gathered thepapers — and it must be stressed that all these documents were availablepublicly.