An accountability court in Pakistan’s Islamabad on Tuesday directed authorities to auction former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s movable and immovable assets and seize his bank accounts, The Express Tribune reported. Dar was indicted last year in the Panama Papers case.
The accountability court has given the Punjab government the authority to seize Dar’s assets and bank accounts and auction them.
The National Accountability Bureau moved the accountability court for the auction of Dar’s properties as he has been in London since October 2017. The court had declared him an absconder in December after he failed to join the trial in corruption cases against him.
The National Accountability Bureau informed the court that Dar owns three flats in Dubai, a house in Lahore’s Gulberg, four plots in Islamabad and a luxury car. The bureau also said that he is a shareholder in three companies based in Dubai.
In September 2017, an anti-corruption court in Pakistan indicted Dar in the Panama Papers case. The court charged Dar for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income. The case was lodged after the Supreme Court disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from the post in July 2017.
Three months ago, Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail and his daughter Maryam to seven years in a corruption case. Maryam’s husband, retired Captain Safdar, was sentenced to a year in prison. In September, the Islamabad High Court suspended their jail terms.
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