By News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar has said he will hand over “evidence” of alleged money laundering by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Khawaja Asif to the Prime Minister’s yet-to-be-formed commission that will investigate the Rs24 trillion in loans obtained by the previous governments during the last 10-years.
Talking to reporters on Saturday, Dar said he would present “irrefutable proof” before the said commission and “all the records related to Khwaja Asif’s corruption would be made public”.
Dar hoped the commission would carry out a thorough investigation into the alleged financial misappropriation by Asif during his stints at the helm of the ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Water and Power. He claimed the senior PML-N leader “received kickbacks” as the then government paid the circular debt of Rs 480 billion. He also alleged that Asif had transferred “millions of rupees” to his foreign accounts by using his Iqama (foreign work permit).
The PM’s aide also called into question the grounds on which Asif had been receiving “a salary of Rs2 million” from a company in United Arab Emirates. He said that the previous government had released approximately Rs 18-20 billion for development in Sialkot — Khawaja Asif’s constituency — “but not even a single hospital, university or college was built in the city which also needs to be investigated”.
“Whenever the PML-N’s corruption surfaced, they burnt official records,” Dar claimed while mentioning the Nandipur Power project scam. “The people want to know the rationale behind Rs24,000 billion in loans during last 10 years compared to Rs 6,000 billion in 60 years,” he added.
Commenting on the recent press conference of Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, he reiterated his government’s stance of not granting any National Reconciliation Ordinance-like deal (NRO) to both the PML-N and PPP leadership contrary to former president Pervez Musharraf. He said both the parties were pursuing “one-point agenda of evading the accountability process”.