According to data compiled by the Cabinet Division this month, the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), which was established by former Prime Minister Imran Khan to repatriate looted money from other nations back to Pakistan, helped collect Rs426.4 billion during the previous three years.
According to the Cabinet Division’s yearbook for 2020-21, which was issued in May 2022, well over a month after Shehbaz Sharif took over as Prime Minister, over Rs334 billion was recovered in the past fiscal year alone.
In September 2018, the ARU was established to “provide a forum” for law enforcement agencies, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), and provincial anti-corruption establishments (ACEs) to “trace new cases and track all existing cases targeting eventual repatriation of unlawfully acquired offshore assets.”
“Eventually, the cash will be recovered either through taxes, plea deals, or direct recovery/repatriation to the government exchequer,” the institutions and agencies said.
According to documents obtained by Dawn.com, NAB recovered Rs389.5 billion over the previous three years “under the supervision and aid of ARU.” According to the Cabinet Division yearbook, it was a “dramatic increase” over the total Rs295.6 billion recovered in the previous 17 years (from 2000 to 2017).
Meanwhile, the FIA has recovered Rs6.4 billion in the previous three years, including Rs3.6 billion in 2020.
According to the records, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) created liabilities and made recoveries that were “off the charts” in light of several inquiry commissions set up by the federal government.
In FY21, the revenue body recovered Rs5.6 billion in taxes on overseas assets, including properties in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, as well as assets identified in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers.
According to the records, the ARU was also directly responsible for Rs30 billion in recoveries.
They went on to say that the Financial Monitoring Unit had been re-energized to guarantee that suspicious transaction were reported to law enforcement authorities in a timely way, allowing them to combat money laundering in compliance with their respective laws.
The ex-prime minister established it less than a month after taking office. It was first led by Shahzad Akbar, the then-special adviser on interior and accountability. However, Akbar left on January 24 this year, citing Imran’s dissatisfaction with his aide’s performance, according to insiders in the then-government.
Two days later, he was replaced by Brig (retired) Musaddiq Abbasi, the former director-general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Throughout the PTI’s tenure, the then-opposition, which has now formed a coalition government after ousting Imran through a no-confidence vote in April, had criticized the ARU and its chief, Akbar, demanding an audit of the organization and the SAPM’s resignation for “miserably failing” to recover the looted national wealth.
