Pandora Papers: Shaukat Tarin clarifies about his offshore companies

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has clarified about his offshore companies traced in Pandora Papers probe, saying that the companies stood closed and no transactions took place nor the bank accounts were opened, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The Pandora Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) spotted records of four offshore companies owned by the Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and family members.

In Twitter messages, Shaukat Tarin clarified that M E Developers LLC of Tariq bin Laden wanted to invest in Silkbank in 2014. He added that they got in-principle approval from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and then opened four offshore accounts to raise structured finance to raise funds.

In 2014, M E Developers LLC of Tariq bin Laden wanted to invest in Silkbank. They got In Principal approval from the SBP and then opened four offshore accounts to raise structured finance to raise funds 1/2

— Shaukat Tarin (@shaukat_tarin) October 3, 2021

The finance minister said that bin Laden had decided not to invest due to the law and order situation in Pakistan. He added, “No bank accounts were opened, no transactions took place and the companies stood closed.”

READ: PANDORA PAPERS: ‘NO OFFSHORE COMPANY OWNED BY PM IMRAN KHAN’

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has unveiled “Pandora Papers” which includes the names of more than 700 Pakistanis.

According to the report, leaked documents revealed that key politicians including federal cabinet members, opposition party leaders, “have secretly owned an array of companies”.

Most prominently these include Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi, Senator Faisal Vawda, Ishaq Dar’s son, PPP’s Sharjeel Memon, the  PTI leader Abdul Aleem Khan, among others.