A Pakistani accountability court on Thursday ordered the attachment of the properties held by a guarantor of embattled former finance minister Ishaq Dar after he failed to present the “proclaimed offender” before it in a corruption case linking him to the Panama Papers scandal.
Dar (67), was indicted in October in a graft case in which he is accused of making assets that were “disproportionate to his known sources of income“.
At the last hearing on November 24, the court had issued a final warning to the guarantor, Ahmed Ali Qudusi, to produce Dar in court or forfeit surety bonds worth Rs five million.
Dar is in London since October and has been seeking treatment of an undefined heart complication at a UK hospital.
Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir issued the order while hearing a corruption case filed against Dar by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the direction of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Quddusi neither presented Dar before the court nor did he submit the Rs 5 million surety in exchange for his properties.
Therefore, the court ordered the NAB to attach Quddusi’s properties and submit a report on December 18, Dawn news reported.
With the attachment, the properties held by Dar’s guarantor will become part of case record and will remain in the court’s custody, it said.
The accountability court had on Monday declared Dar a “proclaimed offender” for his continued absence from proceedings in the case.
Dar’s son is married to a daughter of Sharif.
In its case against Dar, the NAB has alleged that the accused has acquired assets in his own name or in the name of his dependants of an approximate amount of Pakistani Rs 831.678 million.
The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of over 11 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, reportedly showing how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.
Meanwhile, a prosecution witness provided details of three bank accounts held by Dar and his family to the court.
The statement of prosecution witness Azeem Khan, who belongs to a private bank, was recorded during the hearing.
Mr. Khan presented details of three bank accounts held by Dar and his family.
He said Dar’s first account remained functional from October 2001 until October 2012. The second account was functional between August 2012 and December 2016, while the third account was active from January 2017 until August 2017.
Mr. Khan presented computer-generated details of all accounts held by the accused.
The hearing of the case was adjourned until December 18.
On July 28, a five-member Supreme Court bench had ordered the NAB to file three corruption cases against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and one against Dar.
The prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi withdrew the portfolio of finance minister from Dar last month after the latter sought medical leave.
