Losing case to Broadsheet: NAB rebuts report without contradicting facts

LONDON: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has issued a clarification stating that the news item published in ‘The News’ and daily ‘Jang’ on December 27, 2018 with regard to Broadsheet Arbitration and around $60 million fine and costs to the NAB was ‘misleading’ but the accountability czar didn’t contradict a single fact presented in the report.

The NAB issued the statement after The News/Jang reported that the NAB is set to foot the bill of around $60 million (approx Rs8 bn) after losing its case at the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) to the asset recovery firm Broadsheet LLC -- the firm hired by the NAB during Pervez Musharraf’s era to trace assets in UK and US of more than 200 Pakistanis. The NAB said in its clarification that the report was “concocted and a classic example of cherry picking of facts of the case” and that the figures of expenses and award are incorrect and based on hearsay.

While making the sweeping rejection of the news article, the NAB didn’t point out which part of the report or which figures were incorrect or based on hearsay and not factual. While reports published in other papers gave total amount of the award against NAB that was not contradicted by the Bureau, the report in The News/Jang gave details of the award and some of the costs incurred by Pakistan so far on the case. The paper stands by its report.

The NAB statement went on to add that it was working for across-the-board accountability under the leadership of Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, NAB Chairman who believes in across-the-board accountability and NAB’s performance has acknowledged by reputable and independent, national and international organisations such as Gallop and Gillani Survey, Pildat, Mishal, Transparency International and World Economic Forum.

It went on to say that “conveying such kind of impression to the public through incorrect reporting and a continued malicious campaign against NAB by Jang Group to tarnish the image and repute of NAB” but the same report has been published in another national Urdu and English paper where the reporter quoted a NAB official as confirming that it has lost case to the assets recovery firm Broadsheet and a fine of nearly $22 million has been imposed.

The award amount of $21,589,460 is granted on the basis of amounts recovered by NAB from Schon Group: $48,760 interest from Jan 1, 2013; Lakhani: $25,000, 1 July 2005; Kasmi: $85,600, July 1, 2005; Lt Gen Zahid Ali Akbar: $381,600, Jan 1, 2016; Sherpao: $210,000, Jan 1, 2018; Jamil Ansari: $180,000 (Jan 1, 2005), $158,500 (Feb 1, 2007).

The arbitration order says that “the parties are requested to calculate the amount of interest from the above dates to the date of this award (Dec 17, 2018).

This amount does not include any recovery from Nawaz Sharif as none was made by NAB until the recent accountability court verdict of $25 million out of which 20 percent will now be given to Broadsheet. It’s understood that Broadsheet started work against Sharifs as the first targets immediately after signing the contract in 1999. The $21 million mentioned by NAB official in reports in other papers does not include in the interest rate to be calculated. There will be other costs as well that have already been incurred on the case in terms of legal fees paid by NAB to its legal firms, Kendall Freeman and Allen & Overy the amount of which exceeds $15 million. These are additional costs that were not reported by other papers.

The Broadsheet LLC, based in the Isle of Man, was hired by the NAB during Musharraf’s regime to trace hidden assets of Pakistanis in foreign countries and a contract was signed for the jurisdictions of America and Britain. Broadsheet alleges that the NAB terminated it in 2003. It launched a claim of around $600 million against the NAB but the NAB said that it’s for $340 million.

Pakistan’s former High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan said that he withheld one big payment being made in London in the Broadsheet case but was asked by the PPP’s federal government to release it.

He said that a sham payment was made but that was before June 2008. He said: “NAB’s account at the PHC was handled at that time by Deputy High Commissioner Abdul Basit and PHC’s Director Audit Shahid Beg. I took over as PHC in June 2008, Basit was transferred back to Islamabad. Soon after his transfer Minister Political Manzoorul Haq became Deputy High Commissioner. He also made a payment to Broadsheet. Months later Broadsheet served a legal notice on PHC alleging its payment was due and was wrongly made to what it called a fake claimant instead of Broadsheet. The case was pending arbitration when I left.”

Another source confirmed that the actual amount paid to Jerry James of Broadsheet even after the company had gone into liquidation of which NAB had complete knowledge was $1.5 million which is a total loss to the exchequer. However, NAB can contact all relevant regulators and institutions within and without Pakistan if it thinks that The News report was “misleading and concocted”.