News Desk |
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has said that the government has finalized a mutual legal assistance law to obtain evidence from foreign jurisdictions about financial crimes and mega corruption cases involving Pakistanis, reported Radio Pakistan on Sunday.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the PM’s Special Assistant and former NAB prosecutor said that the law would soon be presented before the cabinet and it would be brought first through an ordinance and then presented before the parliament to be passed as legislation.
“Matters pertaining to corruption are not limited to the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) anymore, a joint investigation team (JIT) is also looking into these cases,”
“This law is more open and will empower the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency to carry out the investigations as per the international treaties”, Akbar reportedly said. Agreements will also be signed with China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the exchange of information.
The former NAB deputy prosecutor general said that a bilateral treaty was again being ratified with the Swiss authorities which would enable the country to get the details of the bank accounts opened by Pakistani nationals, adding that Pakistan had already signed a treaty with the United Kingdom which would help speed up the investigations into different high profile asset cases.
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Akbar is scheduled to visit UK next week where he will meet with his counterpart of national crime agency and also hold discussions on the pending requests for extradition, including that of former finance minister Ishaq Dar “”We have requested the UK for cooperation for Ishaq Dar’s return though we do not have any agreement with the country for the transfer or deportation of accused persons,” Akbar said.
“We have increased the pace to counter challenges such as money laundering and corruption in mega projects,” he said. The PM’s special assistant further said,” Pakistan has solicited details of 33 companies from the National Crime Agency”.
“We have inherited nothing from the previous government except for an economic crisis. Pakistan’s foreign debt of Rs30, 000 billion and economic problems are a result of faulty policies of the previous government,”
Earlier this month, the government had claimed to have detected over 10,000 properties of Pakistanis worth billions of rupees in the United Kingdom and the UAE, GVS earlier reported.
“Interestingly, information about half of the properties in the two countries were available with previous governments, but no action was taken because any such action could expose the rulers too,” Akbar had said at a press conference with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.
“Matters pertaining to corruption are not limited to the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) anymore, a joint investigation team (JIT) is also looking into these cases,” Akbar told journalists.
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“We have inherited nothing from the previous government except for an economic crisis. Pakistan’s foreign debt of Rs30, 000 billion and economic problems are a result of faulty policies of the previous government,” Akbar said, adding that political intervention had destroyed state institutions.