ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Monday heard a reference against former finance minister Ishaq Dar for amassing assets beyond his known sources of income during which more witnesses record their statements.
During the hearing today, a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) witness told the court that Dar’s wealth swelled exponentially between 1993 and 2009.
Commissioner Inland Revenue Ishtiaq Ahmed, while recording his statement, revealed that in 16 years, the wealth of the former finance minister increased 91-fold.
“In June 1993, Dar’s total wealth was worth Rs9.1 million. However, his assets by 2009 went up to more than Rs830 million according to records,” said Ahmed.
According to Ahmed, Dar’s tax returns record showed he paid over Rs 729,000 as the tax in 1993, while in 2009 he paid over Rs40m as the tax. The NAB witness presented Dar’s tax records from 1993 to 1979, and from 2009 to 2016 in the court.
In all, six witnesses recorded their statements in front of Judge Muhammad Bashir including Deputy Director National Accountability Bureau Lahore Iqbal Hassan, Sub-Inspector Umer Daraz Gondal, Additional Director NAB Shakeel Anjum Nagra, Commissioner Inland Revenue Ishtiaq Ahmed, District Officer Industries Asghar Hussain and Assistant Director NAB Lahore Zavar Manzoor.
With today’s hearing, the procedure to record statements in the high-profile case entered in its final stage this week. The court later adjourned the hearing until Tuesday.
“In a bit to get the JIT report, two letters were sent to the Supreme Court on August 10 and August 15,” said Shakeel Anjum Nagra while submitting the copies of the letters in the court.
The Judge Muhammad Bashir asked, “Do you have the original copies of those letters?” Nagra told the judge that the original copies were submitted to the top court.
An accountability court last year declared the former finance minister a proclaimed offender in a NAB reference after he failed to appear before it despite repeated summons. A warrant was also issued for his arrest after he missed several court appearances on corruption charges that he had amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income.
Dar has denied all charges, as has former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who also faces corruption cases after being ousted by a court in July in what his supporters call a political vendetta engineered by opposition leaders and elements of the powerful military.
