PM vows to investigate any citizen who hoarded wealth

Prime Minister Imran Khan has pledged to “investigate” Pakistani citizens who might be linked to a massive probe into the hidden wealth of politicians worldwide. The trove of documents, known as the Pandora Papers, reveal that some of the key members of Imran’s inner circle, including cabinet ministers, their families and major financial supporters, have secretly owned companies holding millions of dollars of hidden wealth.

The 11.9 million documents reveal hidden wealth, tax avoidance and money laundering by some of the world’s rich and powerful.

“We welcome the Pandora

Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion and corruption and laundered out to financial ‘havens,” Imran said on Twitter on Sunday night. The UN SG’s Panel

FACTI calculated a staggering $7 trillion in stolen assets parked in largely offshore tax havens, he recalled.

Imran, who has led a massive anti-corruption movement in Pakistan, has promised to investigate every citizen mentioned in the records. He said his government will investigate “all our citizens mentioned in the Pandora Papers and if any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action” while calling on the international community “to treat this grave injustice as similar to the climate change crisis.”

Imran came to power in 2018 on an anti-graft platform, promising a renewed political system by rooting corruption out, eradicating poverty and improving the country’s economy. “My over-two decades struggle has been premised on the belief that countries are not poor but corruption causes poverty because money is diverted from being invested in our people,” he said.

Some 700 Pakistanis are reportedly listed in the Pandora Papers published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Imran came to power in 2018 on an anti-graft platform, promising a renewed political system by rooting corruption out, eradicating poverty and improving the country’s economy.