+更多
专家名录
唐朱昌
唐朱昌
教授,博士生导师。复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心首任主任,复旦大学俄...
严立新
严立新
复旦大学国际金融学院教授,中国反洗钱研究中心执行主任,陆家嘴金...
陈浩然
陈浩然
复旦大学法学院教授、博士生导师;复旦大学国际刑法研究中心主任。...
何 萍
何 萍
华东政法大学刑法学教授,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员,荷...
李小杰
李小杰
安永金融服务风险管理、咨询总监,曾任蚂蚁金服反洗钱总监,复旦大学...
周锦贤
周锦贤
周锦贤先生,香港人,广州暨南大学法律学士,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中...
童文俊
童文俊
高级经济师,复旦大学金融学博士,复旦大学经济学博士后。现供职于中...
汤 俊
汤 俊
武汉中南财经政法大学信息安全学院教授。长期专注于反洗钱/反恐...
李 刚
李 刚
生辰:1977.7.26 籍贯:辽宁抚顺 民族:汉 党派:九三学社 职称:教授 研究...
祝亚雄
祝亚雄
祝亚雄,1974年生,浙江衢州人。浙江师范大学经济与管理学院副教授,博...
顾卿华
顾卿华
复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员;现任安永管理咨询服务合伙...
转发
上传时间: 2019-04-17      浏览次数:778次
Laundering money to be deemed terrorism


https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/459025-laundering-money-to-be-deemed-terrorism

 

ISLAMABAD: Money laundering will be considered terrorism now as the federal cabinet meeting decided on Tuesday to empower the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the police to investigate such cases.

 

Also, a special cabinet meeting has been convened for Wednesday (today) to discuss the “Assets Declaration and Amnesty Scheme, 2019” further.

 

Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, in his post-cabinet-meeting briefing for the media, said that it was on the agenda of routine weekly meeting, but could not be brought under discussion. The cabinet members could not reach a consensus on the plan and it forced the prime minister to call yet another meeting on Wednesday.

 

Fawad Ch. said the cabinet meeting could not discuss the proposed scheme in detail and there was still room for further discussion. Sources said many federal ministers termed the amnesty scheme devastating for the PTI-led government on political front. Therefore, finally both camps agreed on one point that “carrot and stick” policy should be put in place, but it should be clearly defined what kind of carrot is being provided and how much strong stick will be applied afterwards against those who would not avail the last and final scheme.

 

“After listening to heated debate and views of all sides, PM Imran Khan deferred its approval for time being and decided for taking decision on it after holding further deliberations,” said one minister of PTI-led government on condition of anonymity here on Tuesday.

 

The FBR proposed three to four options in terms of conditions and rates for the tax amnesty scheme and maximumate was offered at 15 per cent. The rates for tax amnesty ranges from 1 to 5 per cent, 10 per cent and 15 per cent. The public office holders including politicians and bureaucrats would not be able to avail the scheme.

 

The FBR had forwarded draft amnesty scheme to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and got back response that the amnesty scheme must not allow whitening of criminal proceeds in the shape of money laundering and terror financing through any such initiatives. So the FBR proposed that such criminal proceeds or where litigation is under way on these charges will not be allowed to avail this amnesty scheme, added the official.

 

When this scribe contacted Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar on Tuesday to know reasons for deferment of amnesty scheme, he said that the PM decided to consider approval of the amnesty scheme because of scarcity of time and the cabinet would again meet today (Wednesday) to grant its approval.

 

He categorically denied that ministers had opposed the scheme and said that the PM wanted to listen to views from all ministers in detail, so it was decided to postpone its approval for allowing all cabinet members to express their views in detail. He supported the idea that less rates would be offered to those under the proposed amnesty scheme who brought back foreign currency to whiten their money and assets.

 

However, official sources told The News on Tuesday that the FBR presented its proposed assets declaration scheme before the cabinet and it was shocking that several sitting ministers severely opposed the scheme. One cabinet minister stated in the meeting that the amnesty scheme was against the political philosophy of PTI and it will be hard for them to sell it politically.

 

Another minister said that such a scheme would prove a two-edged sword as it would have a devastating impact on the political front and secondly it would fail to produce the desired results because the tax evaders would not prefer to avail such a scheme. Finally, there was an agreement that if such amnesty scheme was necessary, then it should have folded into carrot and stick policy simultaneously.

 

The federal cabinet, however, approved major amendments to various clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for making extradition of Pakistani citizens living abroad convenient, especially in European countries, and wanted in Pakistan.

 

He said it was an effort to bring back people like Altaf Hussain, Ishaq Dar, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz. About the ongoing accountability process, he said it would continue and law would take its course. He said the current crisis-like economic condition had been caused due to corruption of the previous two governments.

 

Sources said once the scheme was approved by the federal cabinet, it would be vetted by the law ministry for issuance as a presidential ordinance on the advice of the prime minister.

 

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who chaired the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, assured the cabinet members and the nation that the crackdown on terrorists would continue and the menace would soon be eliminated.

 

The information minister said the government was fast moving on implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and soon terrorism would be eradicated from the country completely. Without naming any country, the minister said external factors were involved in terrorist incidents in the country, and the government was close to completely destroying the terror infrastructure.

 

Fawad Ch. said the prime minister would launch the first phase of Apna Ghar Housing Scheme on Wednesday (today) in Islamabad’s G-13 Sector. In the first phase, 135,000 apartments would be constructed.

 

The minister said it had been decided that recruitments to government departments from scale one to five would be made through balloting. The minister said the cabinet discussed the National Testing Service (NTS) and various complaints received against it.

 

He said the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) would be revamped and jobs would be provided on merit instead of quota system. The commission working would be improved and the Establishment Division had been given the task to revamp the testing service companies.

 

Fawad Ch. said Pakistan Steels Mills (PSM) would be rebuilt and six companies have shown interest in the plan. He said for the time being, the PSM would be run on public-private partnership mode. The mill's current capacity is 1.1 million tones production, which would be brought up to 3 million tones. The country's total need is nine million tones at the moment; so there is still room for improvement.

 

The minister said the government would ensure that the business of private steel mill owners was not affected in any way. He said the government was planning to make the PSM profitable again on the basis of public-private partnership. He recalled that the Steel Mills used to be a profitable entity until the Zardari government came into power. They were the ones who destroyed it. Now six major international companies are interested in helping the government run the project, Chaudhry added.

 

The minister said the capacity of the office of Auditor General of Pakistan would be enhanced, and the Adviser on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Husain has been given the task to present recommendations for it in two months.

 

Fawad Ch. announced that Lok Virsa had been assigned the task of establishing cultural and media centres at Kartarpur, one of the holiest places of Sikh religion and situated close to the Indian borders in Punjab.

 

"Sharifs and Zardari were involved in financial malpractices. We hope that they both will be taken to their logical end and the law will take its course," he said. "Suleman Shahbaz and Shahbaz Sharif have no answer on money laundering while Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Ishaq Dar are not facing the courts," the minister added.