News @ 3 - 24th November 2017

ISLAMABAD: A guarantor for absconding former finance minister Ishaq Dar requested an accountability court on Friday to grant three weeks’ time to present him before it in a reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Dar has been accused of amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income in the reference filed against him in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers.

Earlier this week, the court declared the former finance minister an absconder and issued a show cause notice to his guarantor to explain as why his surety bonds worth Rs5 million should not confiscated for failing to ensure presence of the accused in the court.

Guarantor Ahmed Ali Quddusi filed a reply to the show-cause notice, requesting the court to grant three weeks to produce Dar before it.

The hearing was adjourned till Nov 29 when the court would hear arguments on whether or not to confiscate the surety bonds.

Dar, who is currently in London, skipped the hearing on November 21 despite issuance of non-bailable warrants for his arrest, promoting the court to declare him an absconder in the case.

At the previous hearing, the court granted a request by the NAB prosecution team to initiate proceedings to declare Ishaq Dar as a proclaimed offender in the assets reference.