The Pakistan government was ready to investigate ‘Panama Papers’ through the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan can name any official to probe the matter, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said yesterday.
‘Panama Papers’ are an unprecedented leak of 11.5mn files from an offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca, based in Panama.
Nisar Ali Khan made the statement at a press conference in Islamabad and offered Imran Khan to name any FIA official to head the investigation, Geo News reported.
“We should move forward from politics of objection, threats and rallies and should rather focus on the resolution of the issue,” Nisar Ali Khan said.
Imran Khan on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should tender his resignation after “losing moral authority” to keep the post amid Panama Papers’ revelations.
In an “address to the nation” from his Bani Gala residence, Imran Khan said the government should form an inquiry commission led by the chief justice of Pakistan.
“The commission should also include white-collar crime experts and an audit firm that follows the trail of money to determine where it leads,” he said.
Imran Khan gave the government time till April 24 to take an appropriate action over the issue, after which he added he will announce a future course of action.
Leaked confidential documents, spanning over nearly 40 years that spell out the extensive use of tax havens by politicians, world leaders and celebrities to launder money and evade taxes through one of the most secretive companies the Panamaian law firm Mossack Fonseca, have taken the world by storm.
The documents identify many Pakistani business tycoons and politicians, including late two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as well certain members of Sharif family (excluding Nawaz Sharif and his brother Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif) to have used tax havens to hide their wealth.