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Tag: NAB

  • FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has served a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for costing the country a whopping Rs690 million (Rs69 crores).

    As per the details, NAB did not deduct 15% withholding tax while paying damages worth over Rs4 billion (Rs4 Arab) in the Broadsheet case.

    The News quoted sources as saying that a notice on behalf of the International Tax Department of FBR under Section 152 of FBR Ordinance was sent to NAB to pay the said amount.

    The notice said it had come to the knowledge of tax department that NAB had paid damages to Broadsheet LLC — the United Kingdom (UK) based company roped in during military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime to track down foreign assets purchased by Pakistani politicians “through looted money”.

    “NAB had to deduct 15% withholding tax and deposit it to the national exchequer at the time of payment under the Income Tax Ordinance, but it was not followed,” it said.

    The fine was paid to the UK-based firm after NAB ended with it the asset recovery agreement in 2003, pushing Broadsheet as a third party to move the London High Court for damages.

    The UK-based companies claimed that Pakistan owed them money according to the terms agreed upon since the government was taking action to seize assets identified by the firm, including the Avenfiled Apartments of the Sharif family.

    After much drama, an arbitration court of London had imposed a $20 million fine on NAB in the Broadsheet case. However, NAB had to pay an extra $9 million under the head of mark-up due to non-payment on time.

    The court in London had withdrawn over $28 million partially in this regard by freezing accounts of the Pakistan High Commission.

  • Son of NAB’s ex-prosecutor says worked for Broadsheet-linked firm without pay

    Son of NAB’s ex-prosecutor says worked for Broadsheet-linked firm without pay

     

    Omer Farouk Adam, son of ex-prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau Farouk Adam Khan, says that he worked for a Broadsheet-linked firm in the 2000s as an intern without any monetary benefits.

    Recently, ex-NAB chairman Gen (r) Syed Amjad alleged that Farouk Adam Khan worked for a law firm connected to the asset recovery firm as a consultant after leaving NAB and his son Omer too was employed by David Orchard, who along with Dr Pepper, were legal advisers to Broadsheet, a report in Geo News said.

    Responding to the statement, Farouk Adam Khan told Geo that he did work with Broadsheet, but not for money. “There was nothing secret about it and the internship was without monetary benefits,” he was quoted as saying. “It was a regular limited period internship undertaken with many other law students.”

    Amjad and Farouk had been close associates once, but in 2015, both made statements against each other in a London court over the signing of the agreement with Broadsheet. Amjad accused Farouk of working for Broadsheet and getting his son hired as well, while Farouk said Amjad was “satisfied” with the contract signed in 2000.

    He said NAB didn’t let Broadsheet work properly, adding that the agreement was signed with the firm after due diligence and Amjad’s approval.

    NAB-BROADSHEET CONTRACT:

    Pakistan paid Broadsheet, an asset recovery firm registered in the Isle of Man, Rs4.65bn after the NAB broke an agreement with it three years after it was signed in 2000.

    After its formation in 1999 by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, NAB approached Broadsheet to recover overseas assets of at least 200 Pakistanis, particularly the Sharif family. However, the deal fell through in 2003, with NAB saying that the recovery firm had stopped investigations; Broadsheet had accused NAB of hampering its probe to locate the offshore assets of Pakistanis.

    The broken accord was the start of an 18-year-long legal battle between the two parties. In 2008, NAB reached a settlement with a former Broadcast LLC official, Jerry James. The bureau paid at least $1.5million to James to settle the case even though the company was being liquidated and the liquidator was not a party to the deal.

    Though NAB claimed it had reached a settlement with Broadsheet, the firm said James had nothing to do with it at the time of the signing of the agreement. The money paid to James didn’t reach the original Broadsheet, its CEO had claimed and filed a case in a UK court for arbitration in the matter in 2012.

    The UK judge decided the matter in favour of Broadsheet, the claimant. It said Broadsheet LLC was entitled to recover damages for the wrongful repudiation of the ARA [asset recovery agreement]. The award declared that James had no authority from the claimant after March 2005 to enter into a settlement agreement with NAB. The judge said the deal was “wrongful and deliberate to financially hurt the original Broadsheet LLC, Isle of Man”.

    The court held that while negotiating with the fraudulent company, NAB representative Ahmer Bilal Soofi was aware that the original company was in liquidation, and he signed the wrongful deal knowingly.

    Finally, the court ordered NAB to pay $21.58m plus interest to Broadsheet LLC in damages over the breach of the agreement. Due to interest rates, the award amount reached $28.7 million by December 2020.

  • ‘Chinese govt has given proof of Shehbaz Sharif’s innocence’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said that the Chinese government has given proof of innocence of party chief and former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently in jail over money laundering charges.

    “This letter from the Chinese Embassy to Shehbaz Sharif goes on to prove our innocence,” the party leader was heard as saying in the video of a media talk.

    Earlier in the day, the incarcerated PML-N chief, during an accountability court hearing of the Ramazan Sugar Mills case of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him, presented a letter from the Chinese Consul General in Lahore appreciating him for his efforts into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Punjab.

    According to a report in Daily Jang, the judge asked whether Shehbaz had something to say after the anti-graft watchdog’s arguments.

    “I have brought a letter sent to me by the Chinese Consul General in Lahore,” said the PML-N president as he started reading the letter before the court. “I have been facing a barrage of accusations for two years, yet the Chinese Consul General is praising my work as the CM. He is appreciating a prisoner – it is no doubt an honour for me.”

    NAB prosecutor objected to Shehbaz Sharif reading the contents of the letter during the hearing, stressing that it was irrelevant to the ongoing case and a waste of the court’s time.

    To this, the judge said he had already directed Shehbaz to stay on topic.

  • Opposition concerned over ex-SC judge heading Broadsheet scandal investigation panel

    Opposition concerned over ex-SC judge heading Broadsheet scandal investigation panel

    Two of the country’s major opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have expressed reservations on the investigation panel that is to be headed by former Supreme Court (SC) justice, Azmat Saeed, to investigate the Broadsheet scandal.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Thursday, senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that the former SC judge was part of the bench in the Panama Papers case that disqualified then prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    “He was later invited by PM Imran Khan to join the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital’s Board of Governors after his retirement.”

    Ahsan also pointed out that during the Musharraf regime, when the asset recovery agreement was signed with Broadsheet, Justice Azmat was part of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    Meanwhile, PPP Secretary General Nayyer Bukhari said the PTI’s dishonesty had been exposed by the nomination of committee head. “It seems that the government wants to put all the blame on the previous governments.”

    Bukhari said the PPP has reservations on the committee, adding, “it is a sensitive matter which should be investigated in a transparent manner.”

    According to the Supreme Court’s website, Justice Azmat was the anti-graft watchdog’s deputy prosecutor general in Islamabad in the year 2000 for a period of one year and was later appointed NAB special prosecutor in 2001 to prosecute cases before accountability courts at Attock Fort and in Rawalpindi.

    However, it is not clear if the former judge had played a role, if any, in the formulation and signing of the asset recovery agreement and/or its eventual termination.

    It was reported earlier on Thursday that Azmat will lead the inquiry commission to examine the circumstances relating to the Broadsheet agreement and subsequent arbitration proceedings that resulted in substantial loss to the national exchequer.

    The announcement was made by Information Minister Shibli Faraz.

    Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry also said that “PM Imran Khan has appointed Justice (r) Azmat Saeed as head of the Broadsheet inquiry committee”, adding that the remaining members of the committee would be appointed with Justice (r) Azmat’s consultation.

  • EXPLAINER: How NAB cost Pakistan billions over Broadsheet deal

    EXPLAINER: How NAB cost Pakistan billions over Broadsheet deal

    Pakistan paid Broadsheet, an asset recovery firm registered in the Isle of Man, Rs4.65bn after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) broke an agreement with it three years after it was signed in 2000.

    After its formation in 1999 by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, NAB approached Broadsheet to recover overseas assets of at least 200 Pakistanis, particularly the Sharif family. However, the deal fell through in 2003, with NAB saying that the recovery firm had stopped investigations; Broadsheet had accused NAB of hampering its probe to locate the offshore assets of Pakistanis.

    The broken accord was the start of an 18-year-long legal battle between the two parties. In 2008, NAB reached a settlement with a former Broadcast LLC official, Jerry James. The bureau paid at least $1.5million to James to settle the case even though the company was being liquidated and the liquidator was not a party to the deal.

    Though NAB claimed it had reached a settlement with Broadsheet, the firm said James had nothing to do with it at the time of the signing of the agreement. The money paid to James didn’t reach the original Broadsheet, its CEO had claimed and filed a case in a UK court for arbitration in the matter in 2012.

    The UK judge decided the matter in favour of Broadsheet, the claimant. It said Broadsheet LLC was entitled to recover damages for the wrongful repudiation of the ARA [asset recovery agreement]. The award declared that James had no authority from the claimant after March 2005 to enter into a settlement agreement with NAB. The judge said the deal was “wrongful and deliberate to financially hurt the original Broadsheet LLC, Isle of Man”.

    The court held that while negotiating with the fraudulent company, NAB representative Ahmer Bilal Soofi was aware that the original company was in liquidation, and he signed the wrongful deal knowingly.

    Finally, the court ordered NAB to pay $21.58m plus interest to Broadsheet LLC in damages over the breach of the agreement. Due to interest rates, the award amount reached $28.7 million by December 2020.

    According to the judgement, a total of $21.58 million has to be recovered and given to Broadsheet of which $1.5 million had to be recovered from the Sharifs on account of Avenfield flats, $19 million for other assets ($802m worth assets are being attributed to Sharifs); $48,760 from Schon Group; $25,000 from Sultan Lakhani; $85,600 from Fauzi Kazmi; $381,600 from Lt Gen (r) Zahid Ali Akbar; Aftab Sherpao $210,000; and $180,000 from Jamil Ansari.

    WHY DID NAB PAY $1.5m MONEY TO JAMES?

    NAB deliberately tried to cheat Broadsheet LLC by paying $1.5m to James.

    According to the court, NAB made two payments to Jerry James, by then the unauthorized person who had incorporated another Colorado company which he had also named “Broadsheet LLC”. The actual company was Broadsheet LLC, an Isle of Man entity. The arbitration court said NAB tried to financially defraud the original Broadsheet LLC by paying James instead of the original company.

    Broadsheet had been in the process of liquidation since 2005. And Moussavi, who now owns the company, offered to rescue it in return for a 50 per cent share from the settlement and James agreed. He, however, went behind Moussavi’s back and made a deal with NAB by registering another company named Broadsheet LLC — based in Colorado. The deal was declared shady by the court that asked NAB to pay damages to the original Broadsheet.

  • Broadsheet owner claims Sharifs tried to bribe him to stop assets probe

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif offered a bribe to Broadsheet for abandoning probe against his foreign assets, claimed Broadsheet Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kaveh Moussavi in an interview on Sunday.

    In an interview published on YouTube, he said the assets recovery firm “had flatly refused the deal offered by a person claiming himself as the nephew of Nawaz Sharif in 2012”.

    According to APP, Moussavi said the firm refused the deal because it did not “negotiate with the crooks”.

    The Broadsheet CEO also criticised Nawaz for claiming that the firm hired by military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf to identify assets of Pakistanis, mainly politicians, had exonerated him and his family.

    According to Moussavi, the Sharif family has assets not only in the United Kingdom (UK) but across the globe, claiming he still has evidence against the Sharifs.

    The Sharif family required plenty of explanation about their resources of amassing these assets, he added. He said his firm was ready to probe the Avenfield Apartments’ purchase by the Sharifs on the request of the Pakistan government.

    He said the process of accountability was continuing but after President Musharraf left the office, his successors started hampering the process by not giving them access to information and termination of Broadsheet’s contract.

    Broadsheet was asked to go after the Sharif family at start, but it told Gen Musharraf that it would not become a part of a witch-hunt, the CEO said, adding that the probe was subsequently expanded to the previous governments as well.

    The payment to Broadsheet under the asset recovery agreement was contracted at 20 per cent of the recovery from each ‘target’, the term used for those being probed. However, the agreement was revoked in 2003.

    According to Moussavi, the former president had told him in 2007 about the cancellation of the agreement, saying: “You know Mr Moussavi the Supreme Court told us to have an election and we did so. They came back to power and gutted NAB.”

  • Due to zero political interference, NAB recovered Rs389bn in two years: PM

    Due to zero political interference, NAB recovered Rs389bn in two years: PM

    Prime Minister Imran Khan said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) managed to recover more money in the first two years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as compared to the entire tenures of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    In a tweet, PM Imran said that the reason NAB was able to recover money during his government was the fact that it was functioning “independently” and without any sort of “political interference”.

    “Total recoveries by NAB in 2019 & 2020 amount to Rs.389 bn in comparison to previous 10 yrs (2008-2018) recoveries of Rs.104 bn,” the prime minister said.

    Imran also appreciated the performance of Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment, saying it recovered Rs206bn in 27 months of Buzdar-led government, whereas it had only managed to recover Rs3bn during the two tenures of PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif.

    He said the money recovered by the two accountability watchdogs show that accountability worked best when institutions are independent. Imran went on dub the tenures of the PPP and PML-N as “dark ages under corrupt rulers”.

    The opposition leaders, on the other hand, accuse NAB of political victimisation. They claim that NAB is working to target the rivals of PM Imran Khan. Similar remarks were also made by the Islamabad High Court in a graft case against PML-N leader Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique.

  • Govt says will cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16

    Govt says will cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16

    In a bid to bring former prime minister Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan, the federal government will cancel his passport on Feb 16, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Wednesday.

    Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said that the passport of the ex-PM will be revoked owing to his refusal to return to Pakistan.

    Nawaz had left for London for a medical check-up last year after his health deteriorated in jail. The ex-premier, who was convicted in two graft cases, has refused to return since.

    Rasheed also said that now people will be able to obtain visas for any country online.

    It may be noted that the interior ministry’s decision to revoke the passport of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader came two months after a request by the National Accountability Bureau.

    According to Geo, NAB had sought cancellation of the passport and the CNIC of the ex-PM in OCt. “During the course of proceedings, the said accused [Nawaz] deliberately absented himself from the court and after the due process…whenever accused is arrested, he be produced before the court.”

    “In view thereof, copies of the said court order and perpetual non-bailable warrant of arrest are forwarded for processing of blacklisting/cancellation of the passport and blockage / impounding of CNIC of the accused through the Ministry of Interior,” NAB said in an order.

  • Hamid Mir says Khawaja Asif’s arrest proves ‘someone is really scared’

    Hamid Mir says Khawaja Asif’s arrest proves ‘someone is really scared’

    Senior journalist Hamid Mir has said that the arrest if Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif showed that someone was “really scared”.

    In a tweet, Mir said Asif presented himself for the arrest “with a smile and he will come back from the jail with a smile on his face”. “His arrest only proves that someone is really scared and worried,” he said, without taking any names.

    On Tuesday, Asif was taken into custody in the backdrop of an ongoing investigation into allegations of him possessing assets beyond known sources of income to the tune of whopping Rs260 million. PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said he was arrested from near PML-N general secretary Ahsan Iqbal’s house.

    Mir had also commented on the arrest yesterday. He had said that the former foreign minister knew he would be arrested and had even made preparations beforehand for what he considered an “eventuality”. “He had prepared a bag as well and would say that the NAB would arrest him soon,” said Mir.

    In Oct this year, Asif had alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to harm him and his wife by using his political opponents.

    Speaking on a TV show, the PML-N leader had claimed the prime minister wanted his rivals to hold a protest outside his residence, target him in a road accident, and harass his wife by forcing her out of the vehicle.

    Asif had alleged that the PM desired to get him beaten up or implicate in a narcotics case in order to teach him a lesson. He had said that he wanted to raise these issues in the National Assembly, but he was not allowed by the NA speaker to talk.

  • Govt officer commits suicide ‘due to NAB harassment’

    Govt officer commits suicide ‘due to NAB harassment’

    A senior government official, who was named in a corruption reference, committed suicide on Tuesday owing to the alleged harassment by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    Geo News reported that the deceased, a BS-22 officer, was upset because of NAB’s ongoing investigation against him and others for months. According to the report that quoted a family friend of the deceased, the officer killed himself because he was “deeply stressed” due to NAB.

    A NAB spokesperson rejected the allegations. According to NAB, the deceased was not even in its custody. It added that the case was filed six months ago and it’s sub-judice at present.

    Reportedly, the deceased was named in a case pertaining to the alleged embezzlement of Rs1.657 billion after the Benazir Income Support Programme high-ups awarded an illegal contract to an advertising agency.

    NAB has been accused of pressurising suspects on multiple occasions, and this is not the first time that someone has committed suicide to escape its clutches.

    It is to mention here that former Military Intelligence officer and prominent defense analyst Brig (r) Asad Munir committed suicide after the emergence of media reports that NAB had decided to file a reference of abuse of office against him. His body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment in Diplomatic Enclave on March 16, 2019.

    Furthermore, former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran also compiled data which claimed that “NAB custody is worse than the United States’ (US) infamous military jail, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp”.

    The scattered data of alleged rights violations by NAB was compiled by Kamran in a brief she reportedly sent to Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari among other authorities concerned earlier this year.

    According to the brief, 11 NAB suspects have lost their lives while in custody or “as a direct result of the harassment by the agency”.