Fresh push to involve NAB in Dubai investment probe

Parliamentary panel is looking at ways to obtain information about $8 billion investments of Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan can obtain information about illegal investments amounting to $8 billion by its citizens in Dubai only with the help of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), a special parliamentary panel investigating illegal investments in Dubai’s real estate concluded on Thursday.

After the proceedings, the panel realised that no other state institution has the capability to get the information on a fast-track basis, and that NAB would have to adopt the same procedures it used to get information about ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s assets named in the Panama Papers.

But the biggest question in front of the panel was how to make NAB cooperate.  The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance remained short of asking the anti-graft body to communicate with Dubai authorities for seeking information



The meetings of the NA Standing Committee on Finance and the special panel of the same committee were held separately on Thursday in the Parliament House. The special panel that was earlier declared by the NA Secretariat as dead has again been revived by invoking another rule.  The special panel had referred the matter to the main committee to take a decision on NAB’s inclusion in the investigation.

However, on the insistence of PPP’s MNA Nafeesa Shah, the standing committee asked the special panel to give its recommendation of sending the case to NAB in writing.

PML-N’s Shezra Mansab is heading the panel that comprises MNAs Isphanyar Bhandara as well as Asad Umar of the PTI. Bhandara attended only the first meeting of the special panel.

The three-member panel’s terms of reference are to look at how the $8 billion money flew abroad; whether the money can be brought back and how to stop future overseas investments by individuals.

In its previous meeting, the sub-committee had requested the NAB chairman to come in person so that the matter may be taken to its logical end. However, neither NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal nor any of his representatives attended the meeting.

It is the second time that the special panel has decided to involve NAB in seeking the information. On October 25 also, the parliamentary body had decided to seek the bureau’s help. Later on, however, the decision was changed, much to Umar’s surprise.

Clearly, the way forward is to involve NAB, said Umar while recommending the chairperson to send a formal reference to the NAB.

Mansab agreed in principle with Umar’s proposal but she wanted the stamp of the main committee on the decision.

The NAB can obtain the information from Dubai by adopting the same legal course it had undertaken while seeking information on the directives of the Joint Investigation Team that probed the Panama leaks, said Khurram Shehzad, legal consultant of the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The NAB had obtained the information on the directions of the JIT that subsequently became the basis for disqualifying Nawaz Sharif.

In the first meeting of the special panel, NAB’s head of international cooperation had said that the bureau can seek information from foreign jurisdictions either under section 21 of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999 or invoke the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010.

At that time, the committee had decided to write to the NAB chairman but left the decision of invoking either NAO or AML Act to NAB authorities.

Subsequently, NAB gradually withdrew its support to the special panel. “Prima Facie, it seems that there is a lack of cooperation from the NAB”, observed MNA Umar.



The director Economic Crimes Wing of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the special panel on Thursday that there is no reciprocal agreement between the FIA and Dubai authorities on exchange of information under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The sub-committee recommended the federal government to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Arab Emirates aimed at facilitating FIA to get information in the future.

The FIA director also informed the committee that the agency has shared a list of 100 people who own properties in Dubai with the Federal Board of Revenue.

All the investments in Dubai’s real estate are illegal, as State Bank of Pakistan has already informed the committee that the central bank never gave permission to any individual to invest in the real estate sector anywhere in the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2017.

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