Pakistanis’ suspicious assets in UK: UXO enables everyone to blow whistle

ISLAMABAD: Everyone has now an opportunity to at least report to the British government about suspicious assets owned by Pakistanis in the United Kingdom benefiting from the newly passed Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO).

The UWO has empowered various British institutions to investigate how funds were obtained by foreigners to buy properties in the United Kingdom, sources told The News on Sunday.

“The Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) passed in the United Kingdom on January 26 has empowered the British institutions — Revenue and Customs, the Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, and the Director of Public Prosecutions — to investigate how funds were obtained by foreigners to buy properties in the United Kingdom,” the sources said.

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of funds deposited in foreign bank accounts and foreign assets held by the Pakistani citizens.

It has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to submit details of all wealth stashed abroad by Pakistanis.

It also asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to also share their information in this respect with the court.

Prominent financial expert Dr. Ashfaq Hasan told The News that the laws permit to get to know about foreign assets held by Pakistanis holding public office, foreign assets held by the Pakistanis not holding public office in Pakistan, assets created out of taxed income and funds transferred offshore through legal system, and assets created out of untaxed income where funds may not have been transferred from Pakistan through legally permissible means.

“UWO requires the owners of suspicious assets to provide a statement, which sets out the nature and extent of their interest in a property, explain how the property was obtained, and clarify how funds were obtained to pay for the property. So the federal government can inform the British government about those Pakistanis who own suspicious assets or property in the United Kingdom, paving the way for a large-scale investigation by the British institutions,” he said.

Referring to allegations being leveled against the Sharif family in the context of the controversial Panama Papers, he said those who claim to have proof of suspicious assets owned by the Pakistanis could approach the British authorities and inform them about it instead of solely criticising anyone in Pakistan.

Dr. Ashfaq Hasan said the Transparency International had provided the British government with details about Avenfield property allegedly owned by the Sharif family so others can also do it, utilising the new law passed in the United Kingdom. He said the incumbent government was intending to offer an amnesty scheme for Pakistanis to declare their foreign assets worth billions of dollars that may have long-term impacts on the economic landscape of the country.