The new database, made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has named only businesspeople of Pakistan. Though not directly named in the new database, yet the ICIJ website has linked the family of Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and MoonisElahi, son for former Punjab Chief Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ch.PervaizElahi, to offshore companies. According to its 2013 report, Moonis was the sole shareholder of a British Virgin Islands firm Olive Grove Assets Ltd, created in 2006, with the help of Swiss bank UBS. In an email to the ICIJ, Moonis said he does not own or control the BVI company. He did not answer whether he had owned the firm in the past. The ICIJ verified his connection to the firm through the address listed for the politician in the corporate records, which is that of the Chaudhry family residence, a columned white mansion in Lahore. According to the data, the company was active at least until 2010.
The records show the Singapore branch of Swiss bank UBS acted as intermediary between Moonis and the Singapore-headquartered offshore services provider, Portcullis TrustNet, which set up the BVI company. The ICIJ collection of offshore data also contains information about another Pakistani politician, Muhammad TalhaMahmood, who created a company in 2008 in Mauritius, a tax haven island off the southeast coast of Africa, with the help of Deutsche Bank. Talha told the ICIJ that he had created the company hoping to use it for his automotive battery export business but that it became so complicated to get the necessary permits from the Pakistani government that he soon abandoned the idea and closed the company. He said he used Mauritius because it was the easiest place to incorporate a company, but that the short-lived firm did not hold “a single penny.”
Some newspapers, erroneously or purposefully, named Moonis in the Panama leaks, though his family has denied it. The ICIJ has not named him directly. However, the government, instead of replying to questions of tax evasion and money laundering faced by the Sharif family, blew up the issue to create an impression that the ruling family was being singled out by the opposition while all others were also involved in corruption. Despite it, the case should also be included in the proposed commission to probe the leaks.
Abdul Quyuim Khan, a brother of Abdul Qadeer Khan, and Hendrina, his wife, Dina and Ayesha Khan, his two daughters, are said to be owners of Wahdat Ltd, a company registered in the Bahamas. The company was registered in January of 1998, months before the nuclear tests of May that year, and deregistered on Dec 31, 1999, shortly after the Oct 12 coup. The company has been shown as an intermediary of ILS Fiduciaries IOM (Ltd), registered in the Isle of Man and still active. The company has links to 611 other entities from various jurisdictions like Panama and Niue in the database, dating back to 1993, most of which are either “inactive” or “defaulted”. However, AQ Khan has rubbished the report but it should be probed along with all other cases.
Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has also admitted he formed an offshore company to buy a London flat in 1983 to evade British taxes. Speaking to reporters at London Heathrow Airport, Imran said he had formed the offshore firm on the advice of his accountant to evade taxes during his playing days to buy a flat in London. "I was already paying 35 per cent tax on my income, so to evade further taxes, I bought the flat through an offshore firm, which was my right as I was not a British citizen," Imran told the reporters. His admission has provided much-needed ammunition to government ministers. However, his case is different from others. He earned money abroad and brought it to Pakistan.
The joint opposition has prepared a questionnaire for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over revelations by the Panama Papers for the involvement of his children in offshore companies. The questionnaire asks the prime minister to clarify: What are the names of the offshore companies owned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif or his family? What is the total number of the companies, bank accounts and the worth of the property? What is the interest of the prime minister and his family in the Mayfair apartments; when it was purchased; where the funds came from for it and was the income tax filed? Have they declared their income particularly from offshore companies? Is this true that PM’s sons and daughter have shares in Ittefaq Sugar Mills and Chaudhry Sugar Mills? And have they filed tax returns against these? What was the property PM or his family purchased or sold during 1985 to 2016 and was the premier its beneficiary?
The questions are a brainchild of prominent law experts of the country. They are difficult to answer. All relevant questions should be asked from all parliamentarians and businesspeople, who have been named in the Panama leaks or not. They should also be applied to all opposition members. Asking only the ruling family to answer the questions will be unfair. All prominent figures should be asked about tax payment and properties they or their families purchased or sold between 1985 and 2016. It will pave the way for uniform accountability.
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