Corruption Saga: Broadsheet eggs Pakistan’s face: Shafaqna Exclusive

by Tauqeer Abbas
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The Broadsheet saga is continuing to make headlines in the country as the head of the asset recovery firm has now claimed that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif offered them a bribe to abandon the probe against his foreign assets. Broadsheet CEO Kaveh Moussavi, in an interview, levelled serious allegations against Nawaz Sharif. 

In what has turned out to be one long and sordid case – with all the twists and turns of a good thriller – Moussavi has not stopped here. He has also spoken of a bribe, apparently offered to him by a relative of Mian Sharif as well as of the court case that Broadsheet won when the agreement with the Musharraf regime was suddenly suspended. As a result of this suspension, and the damages claimed by Broadsheet, Pakistan has lost $28 million in fine/penalty.

Beyond this, Moussavi has said that at the time of Musharraf’s hiring of his company, Moussavi had suggested all political corruption should be examined, rather than a focus on just the Sharifs. He has also suggested that the $1 billion that apparently showed up in a foreign and transferred from a Pakistani national had been disclosed to the Pakistani government in 2017.

In the face of all this, and more revelations that are said to include even more players – some of whose names have not been officially disclosed, the whole Broadsheet saga sounds like it has the potential to blow up in the face of literally everyone involved. Whether it does or whether it goes quietly into the good night is still unclear – and could depend much on who all is roped into this situation.

What is perhaps most pertinent about this whole incident is the question of how accountability is carried out in Pakistan. Moussavi has spoken of NAB requesting that certain names be removed off lists of people who had earlier been named for investigation. He has spoken of similar goings-on well after the era of Musharraf and Sharif and he has spoken of being approached by a person, who claimed to be a powerful official, who sought a cut against the money that Broadsheet would gain.

Whatever the merits of Mr Moussavi’s claims, and some of them seem scarcely credible, he certainly appears to be a publicity seeker. Otherwise why stir the pot after so long? After all, it was back in 2000 that Broadsheet was hired by Gen Musharraf’s government to work with the newly set up NAB to track down Pakistanis’ ill-gotten wealth stashed overseas; the contract was terminated in 2003. Perhaps he is also hoping for a similar arrangement with the PTI government.

Certainly, probing white-collar corruption and money laundering is a laudable aim. Done with integrity, it strengthens institutions, improves governance and bolsters the citizens’ faith in the justice system. But when accountability is done selectively, giving some the benefit of the doubt while proceeding full throttle against others on thin evidence, if any at all, it corrodes the system still further. That unfortunately is the kind of ‘accountability’ we have been witness to in Pakistan for decades.

 

 

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