Stolen assets of developing countries must be returned immediately: PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the international community to take steps to immediately stop the exploitation of poor and developing countries by returning their “stolen assets”.

He was addressing a high-level panel on Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI) on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly session on Thursday.

“Stolen assets of developing countries including proceeds from corruption, bribery and other crimes must be returned immediately,” said the premier while proposing steps to curb money laundering and use of illicit money.

He said every year billions of dollars are lost due to tax evasion by multi-national companies. “Trillions of dollar black money is stored in tax heaves,” he added.

PM Imran also made a demand, saying: “The authorities in heaven destinations must impose strict penalties on those financial institutions which receive or utilise such [illicit] money and assets.”

The enablers of corruption and bribery such as accountants and lawyers and other intermediaries must be regulated and monitored closely, he said. “The beneficial owner of foreign companies must be revealed immediately upon inquiry by the affected government.”

The premier also said that multi-national companies must not be allowed to resort to profit shifting for relocating their operations to low tax jurisdictions in a bid to evade taxes.

The premier told the UN penal that the need of developing countries to protect their precious assets has become more vital because of recession triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Unless these steps are taken the difference between rich and poor countries will keep growing. The developing countries will get impoverished,” PM Imran warned the world leaders.

The key event was convened to present the interim report of the panel, which identifies the major gaps in implementation and the systemic shortcomings of the existing international frameworks for tax cooperation, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering.