Government to review, take action on ‘Dubai leaks’ report

 

KARACHI: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, Haroon Akhtar Khan, assured on Tuesday that the federal government will review the investigative ‘Dubai leaks’ news report presented in Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath.

According to the report, Pakistanis have bought properties worth an estimated Rs1.1 trillion in Dubai in the past one-and-a half-decade.

The majority of them did not mention these properties in their annual returns and were said to be moving their assets out of the country to avoid being caught in the event of a serious crackdown on this unaccounted for money.

Speaking in the programme, the PM's adviser said that the government will seek certified information from the UAE government on the issue.

“We would like to approach the investigative reporter, we would like to take details from him, then we will see how much information we can take from him and match from our records,” said Akhtar. 

“The information will only be beneficial if the UAE government provides us certified information.”

He added that taxes will only be liable if the investments were made by Pakistanis within five years, and ten years for non-residents. 

According to confidential documents available with Geo News, more than 7,000 super-rich Pakistanis bought luxury residential villas, flats, and estates in 12 renowned localities in the Emirati capital. The documents contain particulars of some 34,000 rich families from 118 countries in all.

This list of the who's who includes politicians, some of whom are members of Parliament, retired generals, former judges, real estate tycoons, businesspersons, bureaucrats, lawyers, actors, singers, and a few media personalities.