Additional accused in assets reference against Dar yet to be indicted

 

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing the illegal assets accumulation case against Senator Ishaq Dar has yet to indict the co-accused, and the case has been adjourned till March 30.

The accused have been identified as former National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmed, Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi.

The three have been accused in the supplementary reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the former finance minister, who has been absconding in the case since October last year.

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing the case on Wednesday.

Dar assets case: Court dismisses pleas of co-accused, orders indictment on March 27

Former finance minister faces NAB reference alleging he owns assets disproportionate to his known sources of income

During the court proceedings, suspects Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Raza were presented before the court, while Ahmed failed to appear. Ahmed's lawyer informed that his client had been granted two-day exemption from appearance.

The judge then ordered the two accused to submit surety bonds worth Rs1 million each to the court, and adjourned the hearing till March 30.

The case

Dar, a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income.

NAB filed an interim reference against Dar in September last year in light of the Supreme Court's July 28, 2017, verdict in the Panama Papers case.

The recently-filed supplementary reference is based on seven volumes and includes the account details of the accused persons, with transactions amounting to $4.06 million, according to NAB's Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq.

The three accused in the supplementary reference are identified as directors of Dar's companies.

Dar was recently re-elected to the Senate of Pakistan. He has been in London on medical grounds since October last year.