As part of an ongoing investigation against individuals having assets beyond known sources of income, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has unearthed properties of 96 more Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the latest report by FIA, 1,211 Pakistanis own 2,154 properties in the UAE, adding that it has served notices to 341 more people pertaining to the case. The report stated that 61 property holders could not be identified as yet, adding that 10 people were not cooperating, five expired and one of them was absconding. It said investigations against 167 people have been closed whereas 79 property holders have submitted their tax returns. “97 individuals have expressed ignorance about their properties in the UAE,” it added.
Last year on Nov 30, the FIA had submitted a report in the Supreme Court containing details of Pakistanis who stashed their assets abroad. According to the FIA list, as many as 1,115 Pakistanis owned UAE properties. Out of them, 338 belonged to Punjab, 639 from Sindh, 115 from Islamabad, 18 from KP and five from Balochistan. The report stated that 417 people out of them availed the tax amnesty scheme. A breakdown showed that 117 people who availed the amnesty scheme belonged to Punjab, 267 to Sindh and 29 were from Islamabad. Last year in September, the apex court had asked the FIA to kick-start a campaign, inquiring about the owners of 2,700 properties identified by the agency.
Published in Daily Times, January 15th 2019.
