This month’s division, the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), which was inaugurated by the previous Prime Minister Imran Khan to collect the money which was being plundered from different countries back to Pakistan, gave his hand in collecting Rs 426.4 billion in the past three years, as per the record received by the Cabinet.
As per the records of the Cabinet Division’s yearbook for 2020–21, which was created in the month of May 2022, after more than a month, Shehbaz Sharif was selected as Prime Minister, over Rs 334 billion was retrieved in just the previous financial year.
The ARU was being developed to “offer a forum” for the officials of law enforcement, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), and provincial anti-corruption organisations (ACEs).
In September 2018, according to some records, “identify new investigations and record all present cases with the aim of eventual repatriation of illegally acquired overseas assets.” According to the institutions and agencies, “The money will be retrieved gradually, either through taxation, plea bargaining, or direct recovery/repatriation to the government exchequer.”Â
NAB has gained Rs389.5 billion in the previous three years “under the direction and assistance of ARU.” As per the Cabinet Division yearbook, it was an “unbelievable raise” over the total of Rs 295.6 billion retrieved in the past 17 years (from 2000 to 2017), according to records found.
During this, the FIA has gained back around Rs6.4 billion in the previous three years, with Rs3.6 billion in 2020.
According to the documents, in terms of the ongoing investigation of the federal government commissions, The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) developed the obligations and made recoveries “off-the-charts”.
The organisation of revenue gained Rs5.6 billion in taxes on its international assets in FY21, which also includes the properties in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, including the assets revealed in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers.
The ARU was also solely responsible for Rs 30 billion in recoveries, as per the records.
They claimed constantly that the Financial Monitoring Unit had been re-activated to ensure the fact that the secret transactions were being stated in front of law enforcement agencies in an organised manner, permitting them to fight against money laundering according to their national laws.
