Justice Isa’s wife appears before FBR

Sarina Isa briefed authorities about mode of transaction used to send £700,000 from Pakistan to UK

ISLAMABAD:

Sarina Isa, the wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa, has appeared before the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to submit money trail of the funds used to purchase three undeclared foreign properties.

The Supreme Court, while quashing the presidential reference against Justice Isa on June 19, had ordered the Inland Revenue Department and the FBR to seek explanations from the judge's wife and children on the nature and source of funding for the three properties in their names in the United Kingdom and submit a report to the registrar.

In compliance with the Supreme Court order, Mrs Justice Qazi Faez Isa appeared before the FBR to explain the source of the fund regarding purchase of the UK properties.

It is learnt that Justice Isa’s wife briefed the authorities concerned about the mode of transaction used to send £700,000 from Pakistan to the UK from 2002 to 2013.

She also explained about her income from 250 acres of agriculture land that she got as a gifted from her father, the source added. Millions of rupees has been generated from this piece of land situated in Balochistan since 2002.

Likewise, she has been teaching at an American school for the last 22 years. In addition, she owns two properties in Karachi.

Moreover, Sarina tried to establish that Justice Isa had nothing to do with those properties that became the basis of the presidential reference against her husband.

It is learnt that she remained present in the FBR office for 45 minutes.
The first property was purchased in her name in 2004 for £236,000; second in 2013 in her and her son’s name for £245,000, and the third property in her and daughter’s name for £270,000.

The FBR will now conduct forensic audit of the documents submitted by Sarina Isa.
Meanwhile, a senior bar representative has expressed serious doubt over the inquiry conducted by the FBR.

The lawyer said a tax officer, who was a member of the Asset Recovery Unit, was posted as chief, international taxes. “He will supervise the whole FBR inquiry.”