NAB seeks court's confirmation to freeze Pak FM's assets

Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday sought the accountability court's confirmation to freeze Finance Minister Ishaq Dar's assets in the country and abroad.

In reference to Supreme Court's July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case, the NAB had filed a reference in an accountability court.

According to The Express Tribune, the court documents have revealed that the bureau had passed a "freezing order" regarding two-and-a-half dozen bank accounts and assets of Dar in Pakistan and abroad on October 18.

Earlier today, Dar appeared before an accountability court in Islamabad.

The NAB prosecution presented two new witnesses before the court in the seventh trial against the minister in a graft case in the Panama Papers scandal.

The first witness - Abdul Rehman Gondal, the manager of a private bank's parliament branch - provided details of the account held by Dar. The second witness - Masood Ghani, the operations manager in a private bank - later gave his testimony regarding Dar's bank account, the Dawn reported.

Dar's counsel Khawaja Haris cross-examined the witnesses and pointed out the differences between the bank documents presented in the court and the NAB. The court adjourned the hearing till October 30 and asked the second witness to appear with the original documents.

The court had indicted Dar, along with Nawaz Sharif's family, last month for owning assets "beyond known sources of income".