National News

ISLAMABAD:Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Monday said the investigation departments, including FIA and NAB, had successfully unearthed the mega corruption and money laundering nexus between Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.Addressing a news conference flanked by Special Assistant of the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shehzad Akbar, he said the duo would have continued to play the game but to their disappointment, Imran Khan came to power and all their misdeeds came to fore as national institutions were given a free hand against the looters of national wealth.Both Nawaz and Zardari, he said, were involved in plundering national wealth through kickbacks in mega projects and the proceeds of their white collar crimes were laundered abroad through fake bank accounts.Fawad said Nawaz Sharif was given enough opportunity to plead his case at different forums, including the Supreme Court, accountability courts and the floor of parliament, but he failed to provide any money trail regarding his assets abroad.He said today was a historic day in the country''s history as Pakistan had taken another step towards a corruption-free state as envisioned by the Father of the Nation.The day, he added, also coincided with the eve of the birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had given guidelines for good governance and controlling black marketing and corruption.There was a big leap forward as ''the two thugs of Pakistan'' had been exposed, one through the accountability court''s verdict and the other through the Joint Investigation Team''s (JIT) report in the fake bank accounts case, he said.The minister said there was a long history of Imran Khan’s struggle for investigation of the Panama Papers, which had surfaced in the year 2016. Nawaz Sharif’s name was mentioned in the leaked documents relating to properties built with corruption money through offshore companies.He said the Supreme Court had disqualified Nawaz Sharif in 2017 and directed the National Accountability Bureau to file three references against him.In the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference, today he was awarded seven-year imprisonment, besides fines of $ 25 million and Rs 15.5 billion by the accountability court, he added.He said it was strange that Nawaz Sharif, who remained prime minister thrice, had taken the plea that his sons were British nationals and would not appear in Pakistani courts.His sons also did not bother to come to Pakistan to defend their father, he added.The minister said the people, who were still defending Nawaz Sharif, should be ashamed of themselves as the money involved in the scam belonged to the people of Pakistan.He said under the NAB''s law, if a person was unable to justify the sources of his earnings then the money held by him was considered as corruption.Since Nawaz Sharif had failed to provide money trail for making assets abroad, therefore, today he was sentenced to seven-year jail, he added.Fawad said the Hill Metals Establishment company had been running in loss since its inception, but it suddenly started earning huge profit with the PML-N coming to power in Punjab and till next five years, about one million dollars was transferred to Nawaz Sharif’s accounts.The documentary evidence of all those transactions was available.In fact the company, he said, existed only in papers and nothing was on ground.The commissions and kickbacks received in government projects were illegally transferred abroad and then remitted back as profit of the company, he added.He remarked that the PTI was not in power when the Panama Papers scam had surfaced in 2016. Similarly, neither the institution of NAB was established by the PTI nor the corruption cases were filed in the accountability courts during its government, he added.He said the two ''thugs of Pakistan'' were in alliance.He said Nawaz Sharif was acquitted by the accountability court in the Flagship Investment corruption case on technical grounds as his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz were yet to appear before it.Fawad said in 1992, a law was enacted that the source would not be asked for the money coming from abroad.However, according to Section 9 of the NAB''s law, it had become mandatory to prove the source of income, he said. Fake companies were established for money laundering, he added.The minister said according to the JIT''s report in fake bank accounts case, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was also found involved in money laundering.Asif Zardari had embezzled 35 percent of the Rs 2,000 billion development budget of Sindh, he added. Briefing newsmen on the JIT''s findings, SAPM Shehzad Akbar said the Joint Investigation Team had recommended filing of 16 corruption references against former president Asif Zardari and his accomplices. He said the JIT had revealed the presence of the ‘Zardari web’ across Sindh, which was facilitating ''corruption through fake bank accounts''. He said the JIT had also mentioned the central role of Bahria Town''s owners in grabbing state land and paying kickbacks.A separate chapter had been dedicated in the JIT''s report to the Summit Bank, which was established toconceal corruption, he added. The Sindh government, he said, had illegally doled out 11,252 acres government land to the Bahria Town, which paid kickbacks of Rs10.2 billion for its Bahria Icon project. Shehzad Akbar said five houses each on either side of the Bilawal House in Karachi were purchased from the kickbacks amounting to Rs 1.5 billion received on account of over-evaluating a commercial plot. He said the number of companies owned by the Omni Group had swelled to 83 from only two in the years 2007-8. The JIT found that the fake bank accounts were linked to Zardari as his personal expenses were paid through them, he added. The JIT''s report, he said, revealed that payments were made through those accounts for the upkeep of Bilawal House''s pets and 27 sacrificial goats.The expenses incurred on the Zardari family''s residences in Karachi and Lahore, commonly known as Bilawal Houses, were also paid through the fake bank accounts, he added. The SAPM said Mushtaq, now an absconder, had accompanied Zardari during over 100 trips abroad and model Ayan Ali on 88 foreign trips.The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) could impose Rs 6 billion tax on the amount transacted through the fake accounts, he added.He said the Omni Group was given Rs 54 billion loan against guarantees of only Rs 15 billion.The personal bills, birthday bills, cement, utility bills of the Bilawal House, and air tickets of Rs 12.8 million were also paid through the fake accounts.He said a fake account in the name of Farooq H Naek was also detected.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2ELtE83

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