ISLAMABAD: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT)’s so-called investigation in the Panama Papers got badly exposed in the accountability court on Thursday when Senator Ishaq Dar’s counsels tore apart the details of assets attributed to the finance minister as most of the assets were either disposed of or were dormant yet the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) wanted their seizure. The NAB wants to freeze those assets which even do not exist now.
The NAB’s prosecutors were at sixes and sevens in the accountability court when Advocate Ayesha Hamid and Qosain Mufti representing Ishaq Dar exposed the fakeness and irrelevance of list of assets of the minister based on the JIT findings which have been compiled by the Bureau. The NAB wanted freezing of the assets of Ishaq Dar but in fact could not gather time to investigate what belongs to him and what does not.
Details reveal that two bank accounts of Al-Baraka Bank and one of Bank Al-Falah have been attributed to Dar and family but in fact are in the name of Hajveri Holding (Pvt) Ltd which is a dormant company and is not doing any business and these accounts have nominal or zero balance. Dar’s counsels pleaded that there won’t be any issue in freezing those accounts.
One bank account of Allied Bank is his salary account and one in Habib Bank Limited is used for reimbursements of allowances and Dar has no issue in getting them frozen provided that credit transactions are allowed. Only one bank account in Bank al-Falah is in his personal use which had an account balance of Rs20 million and Dar’s counsels pleaded that it requires six hundred thousand rupees per month for Dar to meet his expenses and if this account is frozen, the court should allow withdrawal of Rs600,000 per month.
Regarding assets in Pakistan, a house in Gulberg Lahore belongs to Dar which was purchased in 1988, much before the allegations of gathering assets beyond means and he has no plans of selling it. The list of the assets includes two kanal 19 marla plot in Lahore and the court has been told that it has been disposed of by the family. It is now in the name of a charity.
Regarding three plots in Alfalah Housing Society Lahore, the accountability court has been told that a sum of Rs1.7 million was submitted with the Society for booking of plots but the same was refunded via two cheques of Rs850,000 each and the transaction has been reflected in the bank statements submitted in the court by the NAB.
The land measuring six acres in Malot, Islamabad has also been disposed of. The NAB’s list also includes two kanals plot in Parliament Enclave and a two kanals plot with Ayaz Builders but the NAB investigators compiled the list in such a hurry that they could not sort out that it was in fact one and same plot mentioned two times in the list, the court has been told. The court has been further told that a sum of Rs905,000 was submitted for the above mentioned plot by Ishaq Dar and the same was refunded to him and has been reflected in the bank statements submitted by the NAB in the accountability court.
Similarly, the NAB wants to seize Ishaq Dar’s plot in the Senate cooperative housing Society but it remains oblivious to the fact that the money submitted by Dar for the said plot has been refunded in his bank account. The NAB has submitted a list of six vehicles which, according to the Bureau, are in the name and use of Ishaq Dar and family but the accountability court has been told the fact that out of the six vehicles, only one is in the name of the finance minister, while the rest have been sold and transactions have been reflected in the bank statement.
Regarding 3.453 million shares in Hajveri Holding (pvt) Ltd, the court has been told that the company is no longer doing any business thus freezing its shares won’t do any harm to the minister. Regarding 2,700 shares in SNGPL, Dar has no issues getting them frozen.
Regarding assets abroad, the list includes Flat No E-144 Hajveri Villa, emirates Hills, Dubai, UAE which has been sold long ago by Dar. Similarly, the court has been told by counsels of Dar that the list has mentioned an apartment owned by Dar at palm Jumairah, Dubai but actually it was on Jumairah beach and not at Palm Jumairah and it too has been sold. The Bentley Arnage 2003 car as mentioned by NAB to be in the ownership of Ishaq Dar has also been sold long ago. Interestingly, the list includes a Mercedes S-350 to be in the possession of Ishaq Dar but it was bought in the UK, gifted to his son by him in the UK and later his son sold it in the UK more than 10 years ago.
Then finally the list includes shares/investment in Barak Holding (pvt) Ltd and Dar Al Nahayan (pvt) Ltd. These are the most important entries in the list because these are not investments but were in fact credit balance entries for the services Ishaq Dar provided being in UAE. This was the money which has been brought to Pakistan upon which it has been alleged that the assets have multiplied 90 times but actually it was his earning through service provision and he did not had any investment. He did own 1,250 shares of each of the companies which were returned to the company upon return from UAE in 2008. Now the NAB wants to seize these assets which do not exist at present.
