Islamabad: Following the pattern of investigations stemming from the Panama Papers leak, Pakistan has decided to investigate foreign investments made by Pakistani nationals over the last four years.

A parliamentary committee on Tuesday tasked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) with seeking information about hundreds of Pakistanis who have reportedly invested $8 billion (Dh29.38 billion) abroad, particularly in Gulf countries, daily newspaper Dawn reported.

The subcommittee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance agreed to issue directives to all relevant agencies, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the NAB and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to identify ambiguities in the law that have facilitated money laundering.

The subcommittee was formed after reports of huge real estate investments in the Gulf region by Pakistani citizens. It is led by Dr Shezra Mansab Ali and includes Asad Umar from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) and Isphanyar M Bhandara from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N), among other members.

After its first meeting in Islamabad, the committee decided to seek the assistance of the NAB, Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog, in getting more information on the investments.

According to Faheem Khan, head of the NAB’s International Cooperation wing, Section 21 of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999 and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010 empower the bureau to seek information from foreign authorities.

The National Assembly constituted a subcommittee on October 10, 2017 to review the matter after PTI lawmaker Umar repeatedly raised the issue in the meetings.

The main agenda of the subcommittee is to discern how $8 billion was externalised. Furthermore, the committee aims to deliberate on measures to bring back the money and prevent similar outflows in future.

“The committee will review whether Pakistani nationals had transferred the money to purchase property through legal ways or illegal,” Umar said, according to The Nation newspaper.

He added that SBP had refused to grant any permission to any individual or company seeking to acquire property in any country, something corroborated by an SBP official.

The SBP has the right to approve foreign investments of up to $5 million. Beyond that, approval must be sought from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

During the meeting, FBR chairman Tariq Pasha highlighted that tax authorities had failed to play their role effectively in getting their hands on the information despite the existence of double taxation treaties.

Officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said that they would hold a review of companies with real estate investments.

The SECP, however, said it could not investigate investments made by an individual in any country.

Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Directorate-General of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain lists of Pakistani realty investors in Gulf states. The directorate also sought to establish information-gathering desks within Pakistani missions in Malaysia, Thailand, the UK, the US, Canada, the UAE and China.

The department has already requested that the FBR set up information-gathering desks in countries where investments are particularly made in the real estate sector.

A proposal to post FBR officials at the Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi airports has also been sent to the government.