Land worth Rs129 bn recovered in Punjab: Shahzad Akbar

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to PM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said Friday that in the last year, the anti-corruption department had recovered land worth Rs129 billion in Punjab alone while the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) also recovered over Rs7 billion with regard to properties and other assets.

Speaking here at a news conference, he said that he was wandering around with 18 questions and none was replying to them while corruption of B Team of PML-N leadership was also being unearthed. He suggested to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb to ask her leader about who was Nisar Gill and who his cash boys were.

He said Marriyum had asked questions about the government's ARU in Parliament and answers had been given to her. "Marriyum asked about what the ARU had done to bring back looted wealth which was stashed abroad. Critics need to understand how the ARU works,” he emphasised.

Shahzad Akbar noted that once the institutions were given freedom, they delivered and noted that the anti-corruption department made cash recoveries worth Rs2 billion in one year, whereas in the last ten years, recoveries worth Rs430 million were made.

He alleged that those who had remained in power during past 35 years had illegally occupied public lands. He said that the opposition was raising hue and cry over the recovery of government land.

He maintained that the incumbent government replied to the questions and criticism it received but its predecessors avoided doing so. He remarked, “Those who were in power before us did not bother to answering questions. And now even Marriyum said that this government is quick to give a response”. He also advised Marriyum to stop misleading the nation with false claims.

Shahzad Akbar pointed out when Shahbaz' son Hamza was questioned, he told the authorities to ask questions from his brother Salman. He said, however, when the government was asked about various questions, it provided answers to them.

"We were asked about the money that was spent on overseas trips. We gave them the list of expenditure that were incurred, whereas PML-N had laundered money in the past through what he called cash boys and referred to Masroor Anwar and Shoaib.

He said that several days have passed but neither Shehbaz nor anyone from the PML-N had responded to his 18 questions. He also spoke about the recent settlement between a Pakistani citizen and the National Crime Agency of Britain.

Shahzad Akbar explained, "The NCA has transferred £190 million to the government of Pakistan and the NCA's press release has said that it was a civil suit and there was no criminal element".