ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has said that the government has finalised a mutual legal assistance law to obtain evidence from foreign jurisdictions about financial crimes and mega corruption cases involving Pakistanis, reported Radio Pakistan.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Akbar said the law will soon be placed before the cabinet and it will be brought first through an ordinance and then presented before the parliament.
This law is more open and will empower the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency to carry out the investigations as per the international treaties, Akbar was quoted as saying. Agreements will also be signed with China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the exchange of information.
The former NAB deputy prosecutor general said that a bilateral treaty is again being ratified with the Swiss authorities which will enable the country to get the details of the bank accounts opened by Pakistani nationals, adding that Pakistan has already signed a treaty with the United Kingdom which will help speed up the investigations into different high profile asset cases.
Akbar is scheduled to visit UK next week where he will “meet with his counterpart of national crime agency and also hold discussions on the pending requests for extradition, including that of former finance minister Ishaq Dar”, reported Radio Pakistan.
Earlier this month, the government had claimed to have detected over 10,000 properties of Pakistanis worth billions of rupees in the United Kingdom and the UAE.
“Interestingly, information about half of the properties in the two countries were available with previous governments, but no action was taken because any such action could expose the rulers too,” Akbar had said at a press conference with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.
