ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra) could not trace out the identities and addresses of 70 individuals having offshore companies.
According to the annual report 2016 of the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue, in 70 cases, the identities and addresses of individuals could not be traced by the FBR despite all-out efforts. Hence, notices could not be issued. To further continue the search for these individuals, the FBR sought the assistance of Nadra u/s 176 of the ITO 2001, vide letter dated 07.11.2016, in finding identities in the remaining 69 cases of Panama Leaks.
However, the Nadra showed its inability to provide identities while stating vide its letter dated 02.01.2017: “It is intimated that the provided information is not enough to establish identity of individuals. Please provide address, age or parentages to minimise search criteria,” the Nadra said.
The report said that the media reported about the Panama Papers on April 4, 2016 and highlighted certain names of politicians, businessmen, and other famous personalities of various professions; and subsequently on May 5, 2016, another 259 Pakistanis having links to offshore companies were reported by the media. As many as 414 individuals surfaced in Panama and offshore leaks initially.
