Tuesday, 21 November 2017

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Karachi, Tue November 21, 2017

KARACHI

WAQAR ANSARI

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he Model Customs Collectorate Adjudication II Collector Tahir Qureshi has written a

letter to the additional collector and deputy collector asking

them for details of pending cases, especially that of September and October.

Sources told Customs Today that the purpose behind this is to adopt a reasonable strategy for the speedy solution of cases. The cases involving high amounts will be solved on a priority basis. Collector Tahir Qureshi has taken the charge recently and wants to review every case to ensure that verdicts are given on merit. He has also started studying the laws in the form of SROs. The adjudication collector wants the Fed-

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eral Board of Revenue (FBR) to review and explain SROs as he has noticed that some laws need further explanation like SRO-182 and 183, which is related to bank guarantees. He has already written a letter to the FBR in this regard, but the latter has not replied so far.

It is expected that the adjudication collector will write more letters to the FBR until necessary amendments are made.

It is necessary to mention here that Adjudication II Collector Tahir Qureshi has transferred in this Collectorate in the month of September 2017 and he is very active collector in previous history of customs.

Collector Adjudication-II Tahir Qureshi seeks details of pending cases

Gwadar Customs impounds NDP goods worth Rs8.90 million

Customs Appraisement posts 59pc growth in revenue collection

SA: Chinese national sentenced for rhino horn smuggling

Customs ASO foils bid to smuggle 451 kgs charas near Khairpur

MCC Adjudication II CollectorTahir has written a letter to the additional collector | See pAge 01 |

The Customs Collectorate has impounded several NDP generator | See pAge 02 |

CustomsAppraisementshowedoutstanding performance by registering 59 pc | See pAge 05 |

Environmental Aairs Minister Edna has welcomed the four year sentence | See pAge 07 |

Customs ASO foiled a bid to smuggle 451 kilograms of charas near Khairpur | See pAge 08 |

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Protest in Gilgit-Baltistan for withdrawal of taxes Tuesday, November 21, 2017

National

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Council has assured protesters that the federal government has accepted their demands regarding rollback of taxes and a notification will be issued soon.

After receiving the assurance, protesters have called off the sit-in in Gilgit and Skardu till Nov 23. However, they warned that they will resume march towards Islamabad if their demands are not implemented.

The assurance came on the third day of protests against levy of taxes as life across Gilgit-Baltistan came to a standstill.

gwadar customs impounds NDp goods worth Rs8.90 million

PESHAWAR

GWADAR

IRfAN BAhADuR

ASLAm ANJum QuReShI

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he Anti Smuggling Organization of Customs of Mardan foiled an attempt of smuggling foreign origin 21 pistols and 34 guns while routine checking duty on Nowshehra Mardan road.

Sources told Customs Today that Customs mobile squad was performing duty when a Suzuki bearing registration no: BC 4197 Peshawar arrived. Upon checking it was discovered that the vehicle contain guns, the sources in Customs House Peshawar informed Customs Today on Friday. The driver Manzoor alongwith Ijaz another person on board was arrested and FIR was filed against the smugglers of weapons with in Pakistan. The Collector Customs lauded the efforts of Mardan anti smuggling squad and said that Mardan Customs House soon be established for which effective steps have already been taken. The Collector Customs Gul Rahman also expressed hailed the performance of Mardan anti smuggling staff to curb every attempt of smuggling in order to achieve extra ordinary results from the drive against smuggling of contraband items .

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he Customs Collectorate has impounded several non-duty paid generator, mobiles phones and huge quantity of smuggled Iranian origin high speed diesel (HSD) and others goods worth Rs 8.90 million during raids in different areas of Gwadar during the first 10 days of November.

According to the details, on the directives of the Deputy Collector Gwadar Junaid Mehmood , operation against smuggled and nonduty paid luxury vehicles is going on in full swing and several raids have been conducted during previous month October and first ten days of November.

Sources told Customs Today that deputy collector Gwadar constituted a team of Customs AntiSmuggling Organization (ASO) under the supervision of Customs Preventive Inspector Salman Shah. The team, during a search operation, intercepted a truck registration no: LS.8754 which was going out of the city.

During the raids, the customs team impounded electronics items worth more than Rs 6.50 million, included 100 DVDs Players, 70 LED TVs, 60 LED computer monitors, electric wires, and 400 fancy electric board and

mardan customs impounds Suzuki loaded with foreign origin weapons

more things.

The customs arrested three smugglers who are involved in smuggling and registered an FIR against the accused persons and started investigations.

Earlier Customs Collectorate Gwadar has impounded several non-duty paid luxury vehicles and a huge quantity of smuggled Iranian origin High Speed Diesel, non duty paid cameras, different elec-

tronics items, several bottles of wines, Indian silk, luxury vehicles chassis, plastic Dana and others goods worth Rs 22 million during raids in different areas of Gwadar during previous month of October.

pak-Russia agree to strengthen bilateral trade relations M

ISLAMABAD

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inister for Commerce and Textile, Pervaiz Malik, who is currently on a visit to Moscow held a meeting with Russian Minister for Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting under Shanghai Coordination Organization (SCO), and expressed interest in further strengthening cooperation in

all Mields of mutual interest including trade, energy, defence, and culture.

The two Ministers expressed satisfaction at the upward trajectory of bilateral relations and expressed interest in further strengthening cooperation in all Mields of mutual interest including trade, energy, defense and culture, says a statement received here from Moscow They also agreed on making joint efforts to enhance trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. On the occasion Pervaiz

Malik extended invitation to Denis Manturov for a visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience to which Mr Denis responded positively and accepted the invitation.

Earlier, the Commerce Minister attend the 16th Meeting of Ministers of SCO member states responsible for foreign economic and foreign trade activity in Moscow from November 13 to 16. He was accompanied by MNA Shaista Malik and two ofMicials of the Ministry of Commerce. The meeting was attended

by Ministers of Commerce and Trade of the eight members of the SCO as well as Observers.

The Ministers deliberated on the topic of “Current situation and prospects for further development of multilateral trade, economic and investment cooperation in the region of SCO”. In his Statement made at the meeting, the Minister highlighted that Pakistan will work proactively with fellow SCO-member states to realize the goals and objectives of this forum in keeping with the SCO

Charter and the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ of mutual trust, and shared development. He said his country looked forward to advancing the overarching goals of SCO to strengthen political, economic and trade relations between the member states and promoting regional peace, security and stability. “Pakistan is a natural SCO partner, ideally located to provide links for regional economic integration within and between SCO member states,” he said adding China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

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LAHORE

m hAYAt

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ollectorate of Customs Appraisement showed outstanding performance by registering 59 percent growth in collection of duties and taxes during the month of October, 2017.

Talking to Customs Today, Collector Jamil Nasir Khan said that Customs Appraisement surpassed customs duty as well as overall targets for the month of October 2017. He said Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement collected Rs 3,185 million during the month and registered an increase of 59 percent in

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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

collection of customs duty. Overall, the collectorate collected Rs 7,690 million under various heads against Rs 5,157 million collected during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

Collector Jamil Nasir Khan congratulated his entire team for their commendable achievement and urged them to continue with hard work, dedication and honesty to surpass the revenue collection target in the coming months of financial year as well.

He also thanked the all those importers and clearing agents who preferred the dry ports of Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement for clearance

of their goods. He assured them that Customs Appraisement will extend them all possible facilities through proactive approach based on merit, transparency and accessibility. He also asked them to forward their suggestions for further improvement are always welcome.

It is necessary to mention here that Collector Appraisement Jamil Nasir Khan adopted a comprehensive policy to achieve revenue collection target. For this purpose Customs Appraisement teams are using all available resources to recover outstanding dues.

e ctorat s colle m o t s cted l cu t colle mode n e m raise ng the of App n duri o i l l i n 85 m e re d a Rs 3,1 re g i s t d n a t in month e rc e n p 9 5 f se o dut y i n c re a stoms u c f o tion collec

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Founder & Chairman Zulfiqar Ali Editor Rahil Yasin editor@customsbulletin.com.pk For advertising & subscription marketing@customsbulletin.com.pk www.customsbulletin.com Phones: 042-35781643-4, Fax: 042-35781645 Address: 627, Siddiq Trade Centre, Gulberg, Lahore

eDItoRIAL

Real state of economy

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In a report, the World Bank has depicted bleak picture of the economy of Pakistan, putting the gross external financing requirements of the country at 9 percent of the gross domestic product or $31 billion for the current fiscal year. However, the Ministry of Finance has rejected the report, saying the country’s gross external financing needs are $18 billion during the year, at least 41 percent less than what the bank claimed in the report. There is no doubt the state of economy is not promising, partly due to political instability and partly due to inconsistent economic policies. If the implementation machinery is outdated, the laws have also been disfigured over the years and are obsolete. The international financial institutions and several think tanks of the country have stressed the need for structural reforms in every sector of the economy. But situation went from bad to worse. The imposition of 0.6 percent withholding tax, introduced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, not only decreased the collection of tax revenues, but also destroyed the burgeoning construction and real estate sectors. Unrealistic business conditions and tough government restrictions also caused capital flight from the country. The business community sees Dubai, United Kingdom and the United States as more attractive investment destinations than Pakistan.

In its rejoinder to the World Bank, the government claims the gross financing requirements have been worked in line with portfolio investment of 4 percent of the GDP and that is equal to $13.8 billion.

As a matter of fact, whether the country’s gross financing need is about $18 billion for 2017-18 as the government claims or is $31 billion as mentioned by the World Bank in its report, the business and trade activities are subdued in the country.

Pakistan’s total portfolio investment remained $6.6 billion rather than $13.8 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. However, the time will prove which of the two was wrong. But everything is not all right in the country.

The ministry can reject the update released by the World Bank, but cannot deny the ground realities.

Rising trade deficit A

LAHORE

DR AftAB AfZAL

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ccording to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan’s trade deficit has increased to $12.1 billion in first four months of the current fiscal year, showing that the government still has to go a long way to keep a balance between exports and imports. The government introduced heavy regulatory duties on a host of goods in October, apparently, to curb imports, but economists believe the step was merely a ploy to increase revenues. Pakistan’s import bill was $53 billion during the fiscal year 2016-17, but the total regulatory duties imposed in the

name of import cuts is less than $400 million, showing that volume of imports will continue to grow in the times to come.

Reports suggest that the volume of imports exceeded exports by $12.13 billion in monetary terms during the last four months of the current fiscal year, increasing the trade deficit by 31.24 percent as compared to the same period of last year.

The country incurred record trade deficit of $32.4-billion during the last fiscal year and there is no plan in the official manual to control the situation.The annual target of exports this year is $25.7 billion, but the trade gap in the first four months has reached 48

percent, showing the fact that there will be no cut in current account deficit this year too.

Whenever this situation appears, the government policymakers resort to incongruous steps to reach a solution and met with failures at the end. The country needs cheap electricity, tax concessions and minimum involvement of government agencies in the business activities. But unrealistic tax rates, inconsistent import and export policies and lack of interest of the commercial attachés to introduce Pakistani products abroad are some of the big hurdles in the enhancement of exports and development of the local industry. The government

has set the export target around $3.4 billion more than the last year’s, but imports are twice than the export volume and imposition regulatory duties will have little impact on the trade deficit. The only workable solution to problem is to increase exports without compromising on the volume of imports. If duties are imposed on imports, smuggling will increase, which is more harmful for the national economy than the trade deficits.

Until and unless the government authorities make a comprehensive policy in coordination with all the stakeholders, the country will continue to suffer trade deficit, current account deficit and many other woes.

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Ford to invest R3 billion in South Africa Tuesday November 21, 2017

World

CAPE TOWN: American car-maker Ford said it would invest R3 billion ($211 million) in its South African assembly plant to meet rising domestic and international demand for its Ford Ranger pickup truck, the company said. “This significant investment reaffirms Ford’s ongoing commitment to South Africa as a local manufacturer, exporter and key employer in the automotive sector,” Ockert Berry, vice president operations for Ford Middle East and Africa said in a statement. ($1 = R14.20)

SA: chinese national sentenced for rhino horn smuggling

‘Sino, Russian trade will hit $100b in near future’ MOSCOW

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CAPE TOWN

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nvironmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has welcomed the four year sentence of a 24-year-old Chinese national who was found guilty on charges of rhino horn smuggling.

The sentence was handed down last week in the Kempton Park Regional Court. Shuangshuang Xue was arrested at O R Tambo International Airport en-route from Lusaka, Zambia to Hong Kong, China. suitcase that was checked in at baggage counter by the woman contained 14 pieces of rhinoceros horn with a weight of approximately 16 kilograms. It was intercepted by security screening personnel at the luggage transfer area of the international terminal at OR Tambo International Airport.

“The collaboration between law

marico India business up 12% in Q2fY18 arico Limited has announced the results for the second quarter ending September 30, 2017. The India business achieved a turnover of INR 1,200 crore (USD 187 million), a growth of 12 per cent over the same period last year. The volume growth in India was healthy at 8 per cent for the quarter. This is attributable to competitive pricing, restocking in trade subsequent to the pipeline reduction prior to implementation of GST, and strategic investments made by the company. While the pace of recovery in eastern markets, especially in rural and the wholesale channel, and CSD has been slow, the northern, western and southern markets and Modern Trade have restored to normalcy. Marico’s rural sales grew by 14 per cent while urban sales grew by 10 per cent in value terms. –CB Report

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enforcement ofMicials at the airport, in the investigation and subsequent judicial process, needs to be commended. “It is only through such continued cooperation and collaboration that the battle against rhino poaching, being undertaken through the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros Approach, will be won,” Minister Molewa said. The

investigation and arrest were the result of collaboration between ofMicials from the South African Police Service (SAPS), Customs division of the South African Revenue Services, security screening companies and Environmental Management Inspectors (EMI’s) of the Department of Environmental Affairs, based at OR Tambo International Airport.

china offers $30million to support uganda customs modernization

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he Government of China has agreed to support a customs modernization project in Uganda with a grant worth RMB 200,000,000 (US$30m). The grant agreement was signed in the Chinese capital, Beijing on Nov.03 by Matia Kasaija, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Dr. Qian Keming, Vice Minister of China. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Dr. Chrispus Kiyonga, Ambassador of Uganda, Mr.

Dickson Kateshumbwa, Commissioner Customs (URA) and other senior government ofMicials. The grant will support the capacity of Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to acquire latest technologies in the form of non-intrusive scanners, modernized customs risk management, supervision and communication systems, customs service and enforcement support, border infrastructure improvement among others. –CB Report

rade revenue between Russia and China is likely to reach $100 billion in the coming years if the current pace is maintained, President Vladimir Putin said during a press conference at the APEC summit in Vietnam.

“We’ll certainly reach the aim we wanted,” the Russian leader added, noting that trade between Moscow and Beijing is worth more than $60 billion now, even following a decline.

“We have many projects in the sphere of energy, including nuclear and hydrocarbon,” Putin said, adding that there are also “prospects” in joint space exploration.

Meawhile, Russia’s grain exports are running smoothly after a crackdown on tax avoidance in the country’s agriculture trade, a senior Russian Tax Service ofMicial told traders

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Russian authorities and some Russian grain exporters agreed that from July 1, the start of the 2017/18 season, traders would avoid working with Mirms suspected of failing to pay taxes. Traders said the initiative had created some uncertainty in the market. “The forecast of the agreement’s opponents did not come true,” Varvara Burlevich, in charge of tax risk analysis and tax inspections planning at the Tax Service, told a grain conference in Moscow. The authorities in Russia, one of the world’s top wheat exporters, were estimated to be losing 65 billion roubles ($1.1 billion) a year in unpaid taxes on grain deals at a time when they are seeking to tackle a budget deMicit. The tax issue involved buying and selling grain via a chain of transactions in which the value-added tax (VAT) liability is left with a small trading company which then ceases to exist. Burlevich, the main negotiator on behalf of the tax authorities, said top exporters were now increasingly buying grain and oilseeds directly from farmers.

pAL fully pays p6-B fees to govt

lag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) settled yesterday its P6 billion in unpaid navigational fees and other charges to the government. In a statement, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Clara de Castro, PAL vice president for legal affairs, brought the checks to the office of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) in Pasay City yesterday. A check for P5.68 billion was turned over to CAAP chief accountant Raul Eusebio, while a check for P258.59 million was given to Arlene Britanico, general manager for finance of the Manila

International Airport Authority (MIAA). Last month, the DOTr said it accepted the offer of PAL to pay in full the P6 billion in upaid obligations to the government. Discussions were held as President Duterte threatened to shut down Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) if the carrier fails to settle the arrears.

PAL has been exclusively using T2 since 1999. Last September, the DOTr also warned it would take legal action against PAL if it fails to pay the navigational fees and other charges amounting to P7.28 billion.–CB Report

Netherlands to investigate 4,000 corporate tax deals

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AMSTERDAM

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he Netherlands has opened an investigation into 4,000 tax agreements struck with international companies after irregularities were found in a deal with Procter & Gamble.

As part of the Paradise Papers leaks,

Dutch media reported that a Rotterdam ofMicial signed off on an agreement to help P&G divert proMits to the Cayman Islands in 2008, saving the US consumer goods group $169m in Dutch tax. Such a deal would need the signature of at least two ofMicials, according to Dutch law. The revelation prompted the Dutch government to open an investigation into thousands of corporate tax deals signed by the

government from 2014. Menno Snel, secretary of state for Minance, said “procedure was not followed” in the P&G case. “We don’t have any clues that it is a wrong ruling in itself,” he said in a letter to the Dutch parliament on Wednesday. P&G is not under investigation and denies any wrongdoing.

The company said: “P&G pays all the taxes we owe, worldwide, and we comply with the letter and spirit of the law

everywhere we operate. We maintain the highest level of Minancial and tax reporting compliance and in doing so, we observe and adhere to the tax law, the underlying tax policy intent, and disclosure and reporting requirements worldwide.” The company said it had asked for and received additional conMirmation from the Dutch government that its interpretation of the tax arrangement was correct.

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Rs2b embezzlement: NTS acting chief among six officials summoned ISLAMABAD: A customs court in Rawalpindi has summoned six officials of the National Testing Service (NTS) including its acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sherzada Khan in a case pertaining to money-laundering and tax evasion of over two billion rupees. The decision was made during the hearing of a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The anti-graft watchdog presented challan of the case alleging the testing body of hiding five bank accounts and producing fake affidavits.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

hyderabad customs ASo foils bid to smuggle 451 kgs charas near khairpur HYDERABAD ASLAm ANJum QuReShI www.customsbulletin.com

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he Customs Collectorate Anti Smuggling Organization (ASO) foiled a bid to smuggle 451 kilograms of charas near Khairpur City during the Mirst two weeks of November and arrested an accused identiMied who was later identiMied as Shah Muhammad.

According to details, Collector Customs Hyderabad Akhlaq Ahmad Khattak received credible information about some narcotics smuggling attempts. He immediately directed all anti smuggling squads to enhance their checking on main entry and exit points of the city.

The ASO team headed by Additional Collector Dr Aamer Nawaz Hamid and Aziz Ahmed Katpar some inspectors and sepoys participated in the action.

During the snap checking of the vehicles a passenger bus coming from Quetta was signaled to stop for checking while during checking the customs staff led by Assistant Collector Imtiaz Ahmed comprising Inspector Aziz Ahmed Katper recovered huge packets containing contraband charas hidden in secret

parts of the driver’s seat.

According to Incharge Customs Check post Jacobabad, Inspector Aziz Ahmed Katpar, the team intercepted a bus Daewoo Bering registration NO- L Z R 2620 and recovered 255 kilogram of Mine quality

char. The value of the seized charas in the international market stands more than Rs 15 million While before another operation customs staff intercepted a Toyota Corolla saloon car bearing registration NO- BCE 599 Model 2014 at In-

dus Highway near Kharpur city and recovered 196 kilograms of the charas. The car was coming from Quetta via Kashmore district.

It is necessary to mention here that Customs Collector Akhlaq Ahmad Khattak directed all field staff

to use all available resources to curb smuggling in the region.

Sources told that due to strict measures adopted by Customs Collectorate there is marginable decrease is being witnessed in the smuggling attempts.

Anti-corruption strategy being strengthened with students coop ISLAMABAD

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ational Accountability Bureau (NAB) Deputy Chairman, Imtiaz Tajwar Friday said Pakistan was committed to further strengthening its anti-corruption strategy by involving people at large, especially students who were future of the country.

Addressing a conference of the

State Parties held in Vienna, Austria, he said Pakistan gave signiMicance to its members and was focal organization in Pakistan with Untied Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in order to check the common challenge of corruption which was root cause of all the problems, a message received here said.

He said this required partnerships on the basis of best practices of all stakeholders. Imtiaz Tajwar said NAB had already hosted Mirst ever seminar of anti-corruption agencies of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation

(SAARC) countries to establish “SAARC anti-corruption forum” with focus on regional cooperation on anti-corruption efforts and information exchange.

Recently, Pakistan had also signed and ratiMied status of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) regional centre for cooperation of anti-corruption agencies and Ombudsmen (RCCACO). This forum consisted of ten member states of South West Central Asia, he added. He said Pakistan had successfully completed its country review process under the Mirst review cycle, and was preparing now

for second one in light of the lessons learned during the process.

He said the executive summary of our country review report had been published on ofMicial website of UNODC. The deputy chairman hoped that deliberation at the conference would further enhance cooperation among the State Parties for effectively combating transnational crime of corruption.

He said the present management of NAB believed “Accountability for All” by adopting zero tolerance policy across the board which would help arrest the corrupt and recover hard earned

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looted money of innocent people and deposit in national exchequer.

Meawhile, The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) recommended on Thursday placement of federal Minance minister Ishaq Dar’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL). “NAB has recommended to the Ministry of Interior to place Dar’s name on ECL,” said a senior NAB ofMicial. “A letter has been sent to MoI.” The development came in the backdrop of an accountability court issuing nonbailable arrest warrants of Dar over his failure to appear in three weeks of court hearings.