Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court will resume hearing today (Monday) in a graft reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar following the Supreme Court’s July 28 orders in the Panama Papers case. Judge Muhammad Bashir will record the statement of a prosecution witness, Masood ul Ghani of the Habib Bank Limited. Out of total 28 prosecution witnesses, the court has so far recorded the statements of three witnesses. Earlier on October 4, the court had recorded the statement of Ishtiaq Ali, a former manager of Bank Alfalah, who had testified that Tabassam Ishaq, wife of Ishaq Dar, is the owner of a security company working under the name of HDS Securities Private Limited.

He had stated that Dar also held an account in the Bank Alfalah. Dar, however, stated that he had opened an account in Bank Alfalah in 2005 but had closed it after one year.

While, cross examining the witness, Dar’s senior counsel Khawaja Haris had objected to the authenticity of the documents presented by NAB, saying that the documents were merely unverified photocopies. Two witnesses – Tariq Javed, senior vice-president of Al-Baraka Bank and Shahid Aziz, an officer of the NIT – testified against Dar on October 12 during a lengthy hearing that continued for over eight hours. In his testimony, Shahid Aziz stated that Dar, being finance minister, invested Rs 120 million in the NIT in 2015 but withdrew the amount after the Panama Papers case started in January 2017 in the Supreme Court. Second witness Tariq Javed stated that Dar had opened an account in the Lahore branch of the bank in 1991. He also submitted details of Dar’s five accounts, belonging to two of his companies and his wife.