Daily Times

The government on Saturday decided to refer four new cases regarding misuse of authority and public funds by the Sharif family to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for investigation.

Addressing a joint news conference here, Adviser to Prime Minister on Media Affairs Iftikhar Durrani and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said the cases include misuse of funds in erecting a security fence around Raiwind Palace, plundering funds allocated for entertainment and gifts, unauthorized use of prime minister’s aircraft by Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, causing irreparable loss to the national exchequer.

Durrani said Prime Minister Imran Khan had paid from his pocket all the expenses for the security fence erected as per the Blue Book at his Bani Gala residence, while the Sharif family had spent the taxpayers money for the purpose. “About Rs 600 million was spent to secure the ‘Raiwind Mahal’, which is tantamount to misusing the authority and funds,” he added.

Shahzad Akbar said the record of the Prime Minister’s House and Punjab Chief Minister’s House would be handed over to NAB for investigation. He said the previous rulers had been using the taxpayers’ money lavishly. “The budget of Chief Minister’s House was enhanced manifold during the years 2013-2018 with malafide intention,” he added.

Akbar said the Assets Recovery Unit was in process of referring a case about Sharif’s family’s new property unearthed in London to NAB. “The information about the property was revealed by media. Investigative journalists had done the job that I was supposed to do. The media is the closest partner in the responsibilities put on my shoulder to identify the corrupt elements and corrupt practices,” he said.

A news channel, he said, had flashed the news of the property [Frederick Close] located in Central London of value around 2.3 million pounds. The documents regarding its ownership and rental income from 2012 to 2016 had been available but were ‘buried in files’, he added. According to those documents, he said, the property was in the name of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the late wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He said as prime minister and a member of the National Assembly (MNA), it was Nawaz Sharif’s responsibility to declare the assets owned by his dependents, including his wife.

Akbar said the declaration of spouse’s assets in wealth statement by every citizen was mandatory while a member of parliament was also required to do so in nomination forms submitted with the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) for taking part in election. “Parliamentarians are also supposed to submit their annual declarations with the ECP mentioning their own assets and those of their spouses,” he said, adding that it was a fit case of assets beyond known sources of income as the former prime minister had not disclosed the new property of his late wife in London in any declaration submitted with the ECP or wealth statements.

He said it was the domain of NAB to carry out investigation into having assets beyond known sources of income while the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would look into the tax-related matters. He said they had requested Britain for fresh ownership documents of the property. According to the land registry, the property was transferred to Hassan Nawaz in August 2016. The property had lately been sold in March 2018, he added. “We have asked Britain to provide all the documents related to property. We may receive the documents in a week or two. Each and every thing will be shared with the media,” he added.

Durrani said the information shared by China about the Multan Metro Bus Project would be shared with the media soon. “Corrupt practices of former rulers were surfacing one after the other though they were denying possessing any land at home or abroad. Even they had distanced themselves from the contents of Qatari letters,” he added.

The adviser said the incumbent government had introduced a comprehensive austerity drive in all the departments. The amount saved so far on account of curtailing the expenditures of the Prime Minister’s House was Rs 146.8 million, which would further increase at the culmination of full one year. The saved amount would be spent on public welfare projects, including health and nutrition sectors, he said. He said repair and maintenance cost of the Prime Minister’s House had been reduced to Rs 3.4 million from Rs 8 million.

Published in Daily Times, November 18^th 2018.