SC informed 895 notices issued to foreign property owners

Hearing adjourned till October 25

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted a report in the Supreme Court, stating that notices have been issued to 895 individuals to produce affidavits about their properties in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted the report in the top court on Tuesday on behalf of the FIA.

He informed a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, that out of the 895 individuals, 527 belonged to Sindh, 261 to Punjab, 86 to Islamabad, 17 to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and four to Balochistan.



According to the FIA report, of the 895 individuals, 642 responded to the FIA by submitting the affidavits. Of them, 185 are from Punjab, 390 from Sindh, 52 from Islamabad, 17 from K-P and four from Balochistan.

The court was further informed that 364 individuals claimed to have disclosed their properties by taking advantage of the recent amnesty scheme offered by the government.

Besides, 21 people are being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) while 72 have disowned the properties. Likewise, 200 individuals have already declared their properties in their wealth statements.

According to the FIA report, 253 individuals have yet to submit affidavits – and of them 126 have been served notices, 93 are unidentified, two are absconders, 13 deceased, 10 have refused to cooperate with the authorities, 14 have their cases pending with inquiry officers, while 23 have been facing NAB allegations.

During the hearing, AGP Mansoor sought two-week time from the court to initiate further proceedings to recover the money from those who own illegal properties abroad.

The chief justice urged the AGP to speed up the process, adding that the court was leaving the matter to the executive to take steps for retrieval of the money.

The bench, however, did not accept the AGP’s plea to direct the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to disclose the names of individuals who have declared their wealth in the recent amnesty scheme.

The bench also directed that the FIA might verify the cases of those individuals who admitted to have declared their properties with the FBR in the 2018 amnesty scheme.

Last month, the Supreme Court had directed the FIA to present a report pertaining to the legality of 2,700 properties acquired by Pakistanis in the UAE.

The hearing has been adjourned till October 25.