The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to present 20 people who own foreign properties during the next hearing on November 1 in a case pertaining to assets owned by Pakistani nationals in foreign countries.
During the hearing, the FIA submitted its initial report on foreign properties owned by Pakistanis. The report states that 35 political personalities and their associates own properties in Dubai. “The FIA initiated investigations against 3,570 Pakistanis who own properties worth Rs 1,015 billion in Dubai,” the report said. “Nine benamidaars have been identified as well as 150 extremely rich individuals who own properties worth Rs 30 billion,” it said. “Investigation has been halted against 386 persons who benefitted from the amnesty scheme. Those who owned 374 properties in Dubai benefitted from the Tax Amnesty Scheme 2018,” it added.
According to the report, 150 people admitted that they did not declare their foreign properties in their tax returns. “900 Pakistanis illegally own properties in Dubai. 674 people have already recorded their statements before the FIA,” the report said. “44 people who benefitted from the tax amnesty scheme face NAB cases. 200 people disclosed their properties while recording their statements but did not benefit from the tax amnesty scheme,” it added. “Some 2,500 people wanted amnesty in June last year but the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) did not agree to the terms. The authorities have recommended to the government to launch another amnesty scheme,” the report upheld.
As the hearing went under way, the bench questioned FBR chairman, who was present in court, regarding ‘grey communication’. “What steps are you taking to curb the smuggling of Indian DTH?” the chief justice asked. The FBR chairman responded that Customs officials were to appear before the court and brief it regarding the measures being taken. “Some progress has been made but more time is needed,” the attorney general said.
Published in Daily Times, October 26th 2018.
