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ARU recovers Rs38 bn through settlement

By Mumtaz Alvi
December 04, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) has facilitated repatriation of £190 million GBP pounds ((Rs38 billion) through a settlement.

The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has agreed an out-of-court settlement in a pending investigation with a Pakistani family that owns large property developments in Pakistan and elsewhere, says a statement issued by ARU and Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar.

The NCA also agreed for immediate repatriation of funds to the State of Pakistan. The settlement is a civil matter and does not represent a finding of guilt.

The £190 million settlement is the result of an investigation by the NCA into Malik Riaz Hussain, a Pakistani national, whose business is one of the biggest private sector employers in Pakistan.

In August 2019, eight account freezing orders were secured at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in connection with funds totaling around £120 million. These followed an earlier freezing order in December 2018 linked to the same investigation for £20 million.

All of the account freezing orders relate to money held in the UK bank accounts. The proceedings were against the funds themselves, not against any named individual.

The settlement also includes a UK property located at 1 Hyde Park Place in Central London, which was previously owned by the son of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, namely Hassan Nawaz and was sold to the family in March 2016.

As per the agreement between the parties, further details of the settlement are confidential. The repatriation of funds is a result of an out-of-court settlement in a civil matter and is a success story of close co-operation between the United Kingdom and Pakistan’s multiple law enforcement agencies and efforts made since last year’s Justice and Accountability Partnership created between the two countries.

The settlement is a civil matter and does not represent a finding of guilt. The Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) was constituted in September 2018 following the recommendation by the Task Force on Recovery of Unlawfully Acquired Assets Abroad, which was formed in August 2018.

In a tweet, after Tuesday's settlement, he said, “Some habituals are twisting the NCA report 180 degrees to throw mud at me. I sold our legal & declared property in UK to pay 190M £ to Supreme Court Pakistan against Bahria Town Karachi.

"NCA press release says the settlement is a civil matter and does not represent a finding of guilt". I am a proud Pakistan and I will remain until I breathe my last. Pakistan Zindabad.”