ISLAMABAD: The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday made a shocking disclosure during a session of the Senate Committee on Finance that 2,700 Pakistanis received Rs 102 billion in gifts.
According to details, the said persons who received hefty amounts have been sent notices as an investigation has been launched to probe the matter. “The gift system is a means to turn black money into white,” said Kamil Agha.
As per the disclosures of the FBR, Rs 0.5-1 billion were gifted to eight people in 2016 by overseas Pakistanis, 97 people received Rs 0.1-0.2 billion. 280 people received Rs 0.05-0.1 billion while 2,348 people received Rs 0.01-0.05 billion in the same year.
As many as 49 people mentioned in their wealth statements that they owned Rs 0.2-0.3 billion in gifts. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance Saleem Mandivalla said that it was imperative for the committee to ask the FBR whether gifts to these 2,700 people were given lawfully or not. Senator Kamil Agha expressed concern over the issue of such a large amount being received in the form of gifts. “In the Panama case, it also surfaced that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received Rs 1.07 billion as a gift from his son Hussain Nawaz.
FBR stated in response that an investigation had been opened regarding the matter and that the concerned persons have been sent notices under section 176. The FBR further said that it would not overlook the issue of money laundering or funding of terrorism while probing the case.
Published in Daily Times, July 19th , 2017.
