Tag: Broadsheet LLC

  • ‘NAB is a fraud through and through’: Broadsheet CEO apologises to Nawaz, says no corruption found

    ‘NAB is a fraud through and through’: Broadsheet CEO apologises to Nawaz, says no corruption found

    Assets recovery firm Broadsheet’s CEO Kaveh Moussavi has issued an apology to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, withdrawing all corruption allegations and for being part of a “witch hunt”.

    Moussavi issued an apology to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader through a video interview with GEO News on allegations of corruption.

    “We found a lot of plundered wealth [linked to others], but I can categorically state after virtually 21 years of investigation that not one rupee was related to Mr Nawaz Sharif or any member of his family. If anyone says otherwise they are lying,” Kaveh Moussavi said.

    “I have no hesitation in issuing an apology to the former prime minister for my being party to a scam and scandalous nonsense masquerading as the National Accountability Bureau,” Moussavi said, adding: “NAB is a fraud through and through.”

    Kaveh Moussavi repeated his apology addressing Nawaz Sharif directly. “I repeat it: Mr Sharif, we owe you an apology because Mr Sharif you clearly were the victim of a massive organised scandalous witch-hunt. There’s no question about that. When facts change, I change my views.”

    “Twenty-two years ago when Pervez Musharraf had asked us to investigate you, we were led to believe and we started investigating and at every turn we found that investigation was sabotaged not because we were getting close to things but because the intention was something else. That actually was a witch hunt and the intention was not to find any looted assets,” said Moussavi.

    Kaveh Moussavi revealed that he was in touch with Prime Minister Imran Khan through Shipping and Ports Minister Ali Zaidi and that he had evidence to prove his conversations with Ali Zaidi.

    “I was in direct contact with the government. I sat and had lunch with minister Shehzad Akbar directly in London. I had a telephone chat with another minister, Ali Zaidi, who was commissioned by Prime Minister Imran Khan to speak with me and to cooperate but they showed not a scintilla of evidence that they were interested in going after the stolen money,” said Broadsheet’s CEO.

    “They were interested in using whatever we found as a political capital against their enemies, which I am afraid, was my experience with the NAB right from day one. From day one we insisted that we are not going to be an instrument of witch-hunt. Very soon it became clear that the NAB was nothing but an instrument of witch-hunt – a very incompetent and corrupt one. The reason why Imran khan promised the moon and didn’t get anywhere was because they had no intention of going anywhere,” said Mousaavi.

    PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif took to Twitter and said, “Corruption allegations were made to keep him out of public life. Now the whole edifice of lies, deceit & character assassination stands demolished.”

  • Broadsheet ends up paying £20,000 to Sharifs in London lawsuit

    The company hired by Pakistan to trace assets of the Sharif family in London, Broadsheet LLC, has ended up paying £20,000 (Rs4.5 million or Rs45 lacs) to the Sharifs in the lawsuit before the London High Court, Geo News reported.

    According to reports, Broadsheet has made the payment for the settlement of the Sharif family’s legal costs after having withdrawn the Avenfield Apartments attachment application for the seizure and sale of four Avenfield Apartments in the Broadsheet vs Pakistan/National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case.

    Lawyers acting for the Sharif family have confirmed that the payment has been received in their bank account whereas Broadsheet’s lawyers have also confirmed making the payment.

    Sharing the development on Twitter, Maryam said those who had gone to identify corruption, ended up paying Rs4.5 million to save themselves.

    “Nawaz Sharif had left it up to Allah,” she tweeted, adding that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his team will also have to “pay their fines” that will be from their own pockets and not the treasury.

  • FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has served a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for costing the country a whopping Rs690 million (Rs69 crores).

    As per the details, NAB did not deduct 15% withholding tax while paying damages worth over Rs4 billion (Rs4 Arab) in the Broadsheet case.

    The News quoted sources as saying that a notice on behalf of the International Tax Department of FBR under Section 152 of FBR Ordinance was sent to NAB to pay the said amount.

    The notice said it had come to the knowledge of tax department that NAB had paid damages to Broadsheet LLC — the United Kingdom (UK) based company roped in during military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime to track down foreign assets purchased by Pakistani politicians “through looted money”.

    “NAB had to deduct 15% withholding tax and deposit it to the national exchequer at the time of payment under the Income Tax Ordinance, but it was not followed,” it said.

    The fine was paid to the UK-based firm after NAB ended with it the asset recovery agreement in 2003, pushing Broadsheet as a third party to move the London High Court for damages.

    The UK-based companies claimed that Pakistan owed them money according to the terms agreed upon since the government was taking action to seize assets identified by the firm, including the Avenfiled Apartments of the Sharif family.

    After much drama, an arbitration court of London had imposed a $20 million fine on NAB in the Broadsheet case. However, NAB had to pay an extra $9 million under the head of mark-up due to non-payment on time.

    The court in London had withdrawn over $28 million partially in this regard by freezing accounts of the Pakistan High Commission.

  • Son of NAB’s ex-prosecutor says worked for Broadsheet-linked firm without pay

    Son of NAB’s ex-prosecutor says worked for Broadsheet-linked firm without pay

     

    Omer Farouk Adam, son of ex-prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau Farouk Adam Khan, says that he worked for a Broadsheet-linked firm in the 2000s as an intern without any monetary benefits.

    Recently, ex-NAB chairman Gen (r) Syed Amjad alleged that Farouk Adam Khan worked for a law firm connected to the asset recovery firm as a consultant after leaving NAB and his son Omer too was employed by David Orchard, who along with Dr Pepper, were legal advisers to Broadsheet, a report in Geo News said.

    Responding to the statement, Farouk Adam Khan told Geo that he did work with Broadsheet, but not for money. “There was nothing secret about it and the internship was without monetary benefits,” he was quoted as saying. “It was a regular limited period internship undertaken with many other law students.”

    Amjad and Farouk had been close associates once, but in 2015, both made statements against each other in a London court over the signing of the agreement with Broadsheet. Amjad accused Farouk of working for Broadsheet and getting his son hired as well, while Farouk said Amjad was “satisfied” with the contract signed in 2000.

    He said NAB didn’t let Broadsheet work properly, adding that the agreement was signed with the firm after due diligence and Amjad’s approval.

    NAB-BROADSHEET CONTRACT:

    Pakistan paid Broadsheet, an asset recovery firm registered in the Isle of Man, Rs4.65bn after the NAB broke an agreement with it three years after it was signed in 2000.

    After its formation in 1999 by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, NAB approached Broadsheet to recover overseas assets of at least 200 Pakistanis, particularly the Sharif family. However, the deal fell through in 2003, with NAB saying that the recovery firm had stopped investigations; Broadsheet had accused NAB of hampering its probe to locate the offshore assets of Pakistanis.

    The broken accord was the start of an 18-year-long legal battle between the two parties. In 2008, NAB reached a settlement with a former Broadcast LLC official, Jerry James. The bureau paid at least $1.5million to James to settle the case even though the company was being liquidated and the liquidator was not a party to the deal.

    Though NAB claimed it had reached a settlement with Broadsheet, the firm said James had nothing to do with it at the time of the signing of the agreement. The money paid to James didn’t reach the original Broadsheet, its CEO had claimed and filed a case in a UK court for arbitration in the matter in 2012.

    The UK judge decided the matter in favour of Broadsheet, the claimant. It said Broadsheet LLC was entitled to recover damages for the wrongful repudiation of the ARA [asset recovery agreement]. The award declared that James had no authority from the claimant after March 2005 to enter into a settlement agreement with NAB. The judge said the deal was “wrongful and deliberate to financially hurt the original Broadsheet LLC, Isle of Man”.

    The court held that while negotiating with the fraudulent company, NAB representative Ahmer Bilal Soofi was aware that the original company was in liquidation, and he signed the wrongful deal knowingly.

    Finally, the court ordered NAB to pay $21.58m plus interest to Broadsheet LLC in damages over the breach of the agreement. Due to interest rates, the award amount reached $28.7 million by December 2020.

  • Opposition concerned over ex-SC judge heading Broadsheet scandal investigation panel

    Opposition concerned over ex-SC judge heading Broadsheet scandal investigation panel

    Two of the country’s major opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have expressed reservations on the investigation panel that is to be headed by former Supreme Court (SC) justice, Azmat Saeed, to investigate the Broadsheet scandal.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Thursday, senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that the former SC judge was part of the bench in the Panama Papers case that disqualified then prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    “He was later invited by PM Imran Khan to join the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital’s Board of Governors after his retirement.”

    Ahsan also pointed out that during the Musharraf regime, when the asset recovery agreement was signed with Broadsheet, Justice Azmat was part of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    Meanwhile, PPP Secretary General Nayyer Bukhari said the PTI’s dishonesty had been exposed by the nomination of committee head. “It seems that the government wants to put all the blame on the previous governments.”

    Bukhari said the PPP has reservations on the committee, adding, “it is a sensitive matter which should be investigated in a transparent manner.”

    According to the Supreme Court’s website, Justice Azmat was the anti-graft watchdog’s deputy prosecutor general in Islamabad in the year 2000 for a period of one year and was later appointed NAB special prosecutor in 2001 to prosecute cases before accountability courts at Attock Fort and in Rawalpindi.

    However, it is not clear if the former judge had played a role, if any, in the formulation and signing of the asset recovery agreement and/or its eventual termination.

    It was reported earlier on Thursday that Azmat will lead the inquiry commission to examine the circumstances relating to the Broadsheet agreement and subsequent arbitration proceedings that resulted in substantial loss to the national exchequer.

    The announcement was made by Information Minister Shibli Faraz.

    Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry also said that “PM Imran Khan has appointed Justice (r) Azmat Saeed as head of the Broadsheet inquiry committee”, adding that the remaining members of the committee would be appointed with Justice (r) Azmat’s consultation.

  • EXPLAINER: How NAB cost Pakistan billions over Broadsheet deal

    EXPLAINER: How NAB cost Pakistan billions over Broadsheet deal

    Pakistan paid Broadsheet, an asset recovery firm registered in the Isle of Man, Rs4.65bn after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) broke an agreement with it three years after it was signed in 2000.

    After its formation in 1999 by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, NAB approached Broadsheet to recover overseas assets of at least 200 Pakistanis, particularly the Sharif family. However, the deal fell through in 2003, with NAB saying that the recovery firm had stopped investigations; Broadsheet had accused NAB of hampering its probe to locate the offshore assets of Pakistanis.

    The broken accord was the start of an 18-year-long legal battle between the two parties. In 2008, NAB reached a settlement with a former Broadcast LLC official, Jerry James. The bureau paid at least $1.5million to James to settle the case even though the company was being liquidated and the liquidator was not a party to the deal.

    Though NAB claimed it had reached a settlement with Broadsheet, the firm said James had nothing to do with it at the time of the signing of the agreement. The money paid to James didn’t reach the original Broadsheet, its CEO had claimed and filed a case in a UK court for arbitration in the matter in 2012.

    The UK judge decided the matter in favour of Broadsheet, the claimant. It said Broadsheet LLC was entitled to recover damages for the wrongful repudiation of the ARA [asset recovery agreement]. The award declared that James had no authority from the claimant after March 2005 to enter into a settlement agreement with NAB. The judge said the deal was “wrongful and deliberate to financially hurt the original Broadsheet LLC, Isle of Man”.

    The court held that while negotiating with the fraudulent company, NAB representative Ahmer Bilal Soofi was aware that the original company was in liquidation, and he signed the wrongful deal knowingly.

    Finally, the court ordered NAB to pay $21.58m plus interest to Broadsheet LLC in damages over the breach of the agreement. Due to interest rates, the award amount reached $28.7 million by December 2020.

    According to the judgement, a total of $21.58 million has to be recovered and given to Broadsheet of which $1.5 million had to be recovered from the Sharifs on account of Avenfield flats, $19 million for other assets ($802m worth assets are being attributed to Sharifs); $48,760 from Schon Group; $25,000 from Sultan Lakhani; $85,600 from Fauzi Kazmi; $381,600 from Lt Gen (r) Zahid Ali Akbar; Aftab Sherpao $210,000; and $180,000 from Jamil Ansari.

    WHY DID NAB PAY $1.5m MONEY TO JAMES?

    NAB deliberately tried to cheat Broadsheet LLC by paying $1.5m to James.

    According to the court, NAB made two payments to Jerry James, by then the unauthorized person who had incorporated another Colorado company which he had also named “Broadsheet LLC”. The actual company was Broadsheet LLC, an Isle of Man entity. The arbitration court said NAB tried to financially defraud the original Broadsheet LLC by paying James instead of the original company.

    Broadsheet had been in the process of liquidation since 2005. And Moussavi, who now owns the company, offered to rescue it in return for a 50 per cent share from the settlement and James agreed. He, however, went behind Moussavi’s back and made a deal with NAB by registering another company named Broadsheet LLC — based in Colorado. The deal was declared shady by the court that asked NAB to pay damages to the original Broadsheet.

  • PM’s aide denies accompanying person who asked Broadsheet CEO for commission

    PM’s aide denies accompanying person who asked Broadsheet CEO for commission

    After it stirred controversy, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has responded to the Broadsheet CEO’s interview, saying he had met Kaveh Moussavi in 2019 to “negotiate the award price and trying to reduce the payable amount”.

    In a news report that has now been retracted, it was claimed that an unnamed individual who accompanied Shahzad Akbar to a meeting with Moussavi was “more interested in getting his cut than investigating suspects”.

    The newspaper retracted the report and offered a clarification, saying the claim by Moussavi has been rejected by Akbar. It could be someone whom Moussavi met separately, it quoted Shahzad Akbar as saying. According to the PM’s aide, he never met the Broadsheet CEO in 2018, as only two meetings took place between the CEO and Akbar in 2019.

    In the interview, Moussavi had claimed that a delegation visited London in 2018 to discuss with National Crime Agency money that had been frozen under an order. At that time, a meeting took place with a gentleman who had all the documents, he said, adding that gentleman asked him for commission when told about an account containing over a billion dollars.

    During the interview, he also claimed that Nawaz Sharif had offered a bribe to Broadsheet for abandoning probe against his foreign assets. In the interview, he said the assets recovery firm “had flatly refused the deal offered by a person claiming himself to be a nephew of Nawaz Sharif in 2012”. APP reported Moussavi as saying that the firm refused the deal because it did not “negotiate with the crooks”.

  • Broadsheet owner claims Sharifs tried to bribe him to stop assets probe

    Broadsheet owner claims Sharifs tried to bribe him to stop assets probe

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif offered a bribe to Broadsheet for abandoning probe against his foreign assets, claimed Broadsheet Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kaveh Moussavi in an interview on Sunday.

    In an interview published on YouTube, he said the assets recovery firm “had flatly refused the deal offered by a person claiming himself as the nephew of Nawaz Sharif in 2012”.

    According to APP, Moussavi said the firm refused the deal because it did not “negotiate with the crooks”.

    The Broadsheet CEO also criticised Nawaz for claiming that the firm hired by military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf to identify assets of Pakistanis, mainly politicians, had exonerated him and his family.

    According to Moussavi, the Sharif family has assets not only in the United Kingdom (UK) but across the globe, claiming he still has evidence against the Sharifs.

    The Sharif family required plenty of explanation about their resources of amassing these assets, he added. He said his firm was ready to probe the Avenfield Apartments’ purchase by the Sharifs on the request of the Pakistan government.

    He said the process of accountability was continuing but after President Musharraf left the office, his successors started hampering the process by not giving them access to information and termination of Broadsheet’s contract.

    Broadsheet was asked to go after the Sharif family at start, but it told Gen Musharraf that it would not become a part of a witch-hunt, the CEO said, adding that the probe was subsequently expanded to the previous governments as well.

    The payment to Broadsheet under the asset recovery agreement was contracted at 20 per cent of the recovery from each ‘target’, the term used for those being probed. However, the agreement was revoked in 2003.

    According to Moussavi, the former president had told him in 2007 about the cancellation of the agreement, saying: “You know Mr Moussavi the Supreme Court told us to have an election and we did so. They came back to power and gutted NAB.”

  • Pakistan cricket team’s equipment could be siezed by company NAB owes money to

    Pakistan cricket team’s equipment could be siezed by company NAB owes money to

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has played down reports that a company based in the Isle of Man may seize assets owned by the Pakistan team currently in the United Kingdom (UK), as part of an old legal dispute between the firm and the Pakistan government.

    A report quoted a letter from Broadsheet LLC to the Pakistan government in which it said it would “seize the assets of the Pakistani cricket team” because of longstanding dues owed to it by the government.

    The PCB has been in touch with the Pakistan Embassy in the UK and is believed to have been satisfied that there is little prospect of this actually happening. That belief lies in the legal opinion that the Pakistan team is representative of the PCB, an autonomous body, and not of the Pakistan state or government, and so is not a party to the case or liable for the damages.

    In the letter, Broadsheet says that the Pakistan team is “by the very nature, an asset of the defendant and that monies due to the team and assets of the team are assets of the defendant to the litigation”.

    The legal dispute dates back to the early 2000s, when Broadsheet was hired by General (r) Pervez Musharraf, who was the head of state of Pakistan then, to trace out hidden assets of Pakistan nationals in foreign countries. Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had signed an agreement with Broadsheet, which was eventually terminated in 2003. The termination had led to a legal dispute, one resolved in 2018, when an international arbitration court in London ruled in favour of Broadsheet, and established that the NAB was liable to pay damages. It is this payment that remains outstanding.

    The letter quoted by the report was written by Broadsheet to Allen & Overy, the firm that represented the Pakistan government and the NAB in the case, and said that Broadsheet was owed “more than $33 million” after it won the arbitration.

    ESPNCricinfo reached out to NAB for a comment, but the body has not confirmed or denied any threat to the cricket team’s equipment being seized.

    The Pakistan team will play three Tests and three T20 International (T20I) matches against England, with the first Test scheduled to start on August 5 in Manchester. The final T20I will take place on September 1.