This is wrong impression that she did not provide her money trail to SC created by Insafis. The fact is Supreme Court was satisfied with the money trail but justice Bandiyal sent the case to FBR, in contrast for Imran Khan case no verification was done.
“We are quite satisfied that you have the material in support of the source (of money) for the properties,” observed Justice Umar Ata Bandial after the recording of her statement.
Explaining how she earned the money required, she said she used to teach at the prestigious Karachi American School before she got married. At the school, tax was also deducted from her salary, which included additional benefits like house rent, conveyance allowance, etc though she did not need to pay rent.
Her tax adviser Rehan Hassan Naqvi used to pay the tax returns on her behalf, she said. While showing copies of her tax returns, she said it took her a long time to get the documents. The Pakistan government had provided her with a tax certificate for paying the taxes.
She also deplored that her regional tax officer had been changed from Karachi to Islamabad without her knowledge and although she went to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) twice she was never asked about the source of funds for the properties.
In Karachi, she said, she owned an office, which was shared with another lady and which was later sold. This was disclosed in the annual income tax returns.
Similarly, another property in Clifton, Karachi, was sold on which tax was also paid, she said. A third property in Shah Latif Town in Karachi was encroached upon.
In addition to the properties in Karachi, she had vast agricultural lands in Jacobabad, Sindh, and Dera Murad Jamali, Balochistan, she said.
Mrs Isa spent considerable time in reading out the Khasra number of each piece of land.
“I don’t want to make a wrong statement but I believe tax must have been paid,” she said adding that she was advised by her tax adviser to open foreign bank accounts since the government was encouraging it and this was legal too.
“I relied on the advice of the adviser who also stated that there was no need to mention anything about the agricultural lands if foreign exchange account was used,” she said.
“The two foreign currency accounts bear a Karachi address,” she said while holding some papers before the camera but requesting that this not be shared with the government because she didn’t “trust them”.
She said she bought the properties between 2003 and 2013 and transferred a total of 700,000 pounds through the Standard Chartered Bank; the money was transferred in her own name. “The bank reports every transaction to the State Bank of Pakistan,” she stated.
The first property was purchased in her name in 2004 for 236,000 pounds, the second one in 2013 in her and her son’s name for 245,000 pounds, and the third one in her and daughter’s name for 270,000 pounds.
“All these accounts are in my name and not my husband’s name and if you add up the value of the properties which was being claimed (to be in) millions is equivalent to a one-kanal house either in Karachi or Islamabad,” she said.
The lawyer hired for the purchase and transfer of funds was of her choice and not that of her husband, she said, adding that different taxes and service charges were paid to the government, all in her name. “I have been billed and paying them still,” she said.
When she stopped working in the school, she was told by her adviser that she did not need to pay tax. Later the law changed and she started filing returns, she said while explaining that she was disclosing the properties because the law had changed and now there was a requirement to disclose everything.
She stated that she had been filing income tax returns for the properties both in Pakistan and the UK and the British authorities had even refunded some of the tax money. She wondered why she had not been asked about the properties during the last 13 months.
Justice Bandial, however, observed that the court could not resolve the dispute; therefore she should approach either the tax authorities or the Supreme Judicial Council, which could give her a sympathetic hearing.
Zarina breaks into tears several times during her testimony recorded through video link.
www.dawn.com
In contrast Imran Khan presented absolutely nothing concrete and his money trail was accepted, Imran Khan said that he bought the London Property by earning money from Kerry Pecker in rebellion with Pakistan, but failed to tell the amount or bank where the money was transferred, just presented an Australian Email (
Australian Khat), when journalist contacted that person who was posing himself as manager of Kerry Pecker, Imran Khan become furious, Imran Khan said earned money from county cricket but did not present any evidence, instead he presented contract letter of former cricketer Mushtaq Ahmad, who played county cricket after 10 years than Imran Khan.
“I do not have any record of the exact schedule of my employments” and submitted documents, also including a letter by the Director of World Series Cricket and contract letter of former cricketer Mushtaq Ahmad.
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the leader of one of the main political parties, gave his strong reaction to The News story headlined “Imran submits ‘Qatari’ letter to SC” filed by me...
www.thenews.com.pk
