NAB had suggested diverse probe team for Panama case

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had suggested before the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case through a civil miscellaneous application that Panama Papers case could not be investigated by a single agency therefore a vibrant investigation team should be formed.

It suggested that the team should have members from tax departments, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), ministries of interior, law, finance and foreign affairs and other financial monitoring units.

NAB had filed a CMA No7127/2016 in the apex court and had explained its findings and suggestions to probe the Panama Papers case.“It may be appreciated that to probe the matter a broad-level data collection would be required by involving global networks in line with the requirements of international legal instruments, bilateral agreements and the domestic legislation of the countries concerned. 

In order to achieve the objective, potential participation and input of various departments, regulators and stakeholders dealing with the subjects would be required, including FBR/Income Tax Departments, SBP, financial monitoring units, SECP, ministries of finance, law interior and foreign affairs for reaching a logical conclusion.

The scope of diligence required in the matter is multifarious and no single agency would be in a position to provide credible response to the issues raised in the letter. NAB would however, play its own role in sync with all other agencies concerned and stakeholders on the basis of incriminating material, constituting an offense under NAO 1999 fairly and strictly in accordance with law”, the NAB’s applications says. The Supreme Court on Thursday also formed a diverse JIT to probe the money matters of the Sharif family.