Daily Times

The safe parking of funds in Shell Companies accumulated through corrupt practices and tax evasion is a global phenomenon. The problem came into sharp focus in many countries during the economic recession of 2007-2008,drawing the attention of the powerful countries to the negative fallout of secrecy laws, regulations and innovative methods of banks to seek clients and provide safe havens for their ill-gotten wealth. The wide network of the Shell Companies hiding treasures of tax evaders, drug dealers and corrupt politicians that had hit the USA and many other major economies of the world also came under rigorous scrutiny.

The banks and financial institutions involved in parking the tax evaded and illegitimate wealth were taken to task and laws and systems to oversee the cross border financial flows revamped. However, these measures proved ineffective to bring any reduction in the outflow of illegitimate funds to safe havens spread all over the world. The USA Justice Department summoned Swiss banking regulators particularly some executives of Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) who were suspected to have helped American clients evade taxes. They imprisoned Bradley Birkenfeld, a senior executive for his role in laundering tax evaded wealth from the USA.

Mr. Mr. Birkenfeld had revealed a stunningculture of deception at the UBS that circumvented many countries’ laws making use of encrypted computers and offshore Shell Companies to channelize the illegitimate funds. He described the Shell Companies as ‘facilitators of tax evasion, corruption and organized crimes, contributing to financial imbalance in many societies. They help the ruling elite to loot the treasuries of their countries and stash their spoils elsewhere generating illicit cross border financial flow of over $1trillion every year’. His revelations helped the American authorities discover that Americans accounted for 2% of the bank’s wealth management division handling $1.3trillion in 2007. The American share of this huge amount ranged within $20billion.

The successful prosecution of corrupt elite will establish the writ of the state and help the people regain confidence in the significance of accountability, plural democracy, rule of law and equality before law

As a result of the investigations by the American authorities and the looming probability of prosecution, the UBS admitted having defrauded the USA revealing the names of 280 tax evaders, and paid fines of $780million in 2009. This list of tax evaders expanded to 4,450 names when the US authorities widened the network of investigations and included other Swiss banks. Later, 55,000 American tax evaders volunteered to come forward to pay their taxes and the interests accumulated thereon during the period. In 2016, the USA recovered some $8billion from these tax evaders plus $1.4billion in penalties paid by the banks.

Also in 2016, the Panama papers reports based on data leaks from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack-Fonseca, exposed a world of illicit assets, criminality and creative tax evasion methods. In Mossack Fonseca data, a good number of Pakistanis including the former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his sons were conspicuous in their presence on the list of beneficiaries of Shell Companies.What the data revealed by Bermuda and Panama law firms suggested was that a huge amount of $8.7trillion was held by the Shell Companies which comes to 10% of the global GDP. However, James Henry, an economist of repute rejected this amount as ridiculously small claiming the wealth held by the Shell Companies ranges between $24 to 36trillion.

The revelations of Panama Papers cost many a leader their high positions all over the world. We are still feeling the tremors of the revelations which are apparently shaking the very foundation of our fledgling democracy. The former Prime Minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 7 years’ vigorous imprisonment in the Evanfield reference along with his daughter Mariam Nawaz. His sons chose to abscond. The Islamabad High Court suspended their sentence giving them temporary relief from imprisonment. However, the Trial Court in two other references -Al Azizia Hill Metals and Flagship Company – sentenced the senior Sharif for 7 years.

The senior Sharif has all along denied having indulged in any corruption or taken any kickback. Nevertheless, he has failed to submit any convincing account for the funds utilized in setting up the huge Al-Azizia Hill Metals abroad. Similarly, he also had failed to show any money trail for the purchase of his Evan Field properties in the early 1990s when his children were minor and had no source of income. By just pleading that the money was provided by a Qatri Prince was too weak an argument to withstand any judicial scrutiny. The laws dealing with the acquisition of wealth and property beyond the known sources of income apply to all public office holders including state employees. In such cases, the accused has to prove his other legitimate sources to acquire expensive assets.

Another senior leader, Asif Ali Zardari feels the tightening noose of accountability for money laundering through fake bank accounts and acquiring expensive properties. He has since been arrested along with his sister and a number of his front men and bankers. Some references have already been filed in this high profile case.This expeditious process of accountability against mighty dynasties of the country has sent loud and clear signals that from now onwards everybody from the top to the bottom would have to answer for his misdeeds in Pakistan.This perception would have more value than recovering a few billions from the corrupt. Henceforth, nobody, at least, will plunder the national treasury with a sense of impunity.

The people of Pakistan have beenso farputting up with a system in which the elite and privileged were above the law. The corrupt anti-graft departments had been pursuing, prosecuting and persecuting the lower echelons of the federal and provincial administrative structures while shying away from the misdeeds of the powerful ruling elite and their acolytes in the bureaucracy. The realities of the new Pakistan will gradually settled down in such a society. The successful prosecution of corrupt elite will establish the writ of the state and help the people regain confidence in the significance of accountability, plural democracy, rule of law and equality before law.

The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books