Mirza Shahzad Akbar… A story of tall false claims, misleading the public & victimization

Mirza Shahzad Akbar, once a deputy prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan was made special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on Accountability and Interior in August 2018, recently was asked by PM Khan to step down from his position as according to the close circles of PM House, he instead of focusing on his original work had engrossed upon blackmailing, minting illegal money, double-crossing, misusing of authority for personal gains and misguiding PM and his team on many issues.

Afterward, in July 2020, he was appointed an adviser to the prime minister with the same portfolio. He had been assigned the task of bringing the PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan and pursuing various corruption cases against opposition leaders.

He was also the chairman of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) that was established in 2018 to suggest ways and legal means to bring back looted money stashed abroad as well as probe properties owned by Pakistanis in foreign countries.

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The story of what transpired in the tenure of Shahzad Akbar is a story of lies, deceit, and a glorious scandal in the making. Shahzad Akbar misguided the Pakistani government including Prime Minister Imran Khan on many issues, he made highly frivolous cases on Mian Shahbaz Sharif and his family, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Asif Zardari, former DG FIA Bashir Memon, Dubai Based Pakistani businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor, Miftah Ismail, Javed Latif, Supreme Court Judge Justice Qazi Faez Issa, and others and rumors have it he weakened the very cases he created deliberately for some kind of compensation; almost all cases based on fake and unnecessary tall claims.

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Apart from the other cases of renowned Pakistani politicians one case put Pakistan in a very embarrassing diplomatic position when he targeted a Dubai-based Pakistani businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor to blackmail the businessman. In this matter Shahzad Akbar not only misused the institutions of Pakistan like the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) but also misguided the federal cabinet to seek approval to open these cases, knowing fully well that the courts in Pakistan had given orders against such misadventure.

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In a matter of businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor, senior police officer and former DG FIA Saud Mirza in his official statement before FIA had cleared Zahoor’s matter was nothing but a domestic dispute between Zahoor and his Ex-Wife Khushbakhat alias Sophia Mirza and termed all actions regarding Zahoor as per laws and court orders. Shahzad Akbar tried several pressure tactics against Omar Zahoor violating Lahore’s high court orders. After losing the court battle, Shahzad Akbar instructed the interior ministry and FIA to apply delaying tactics and not follow court orders only to keep the businessman under pressure.

The notorious activities of Shahzad Akbar had powerful cover and he did things without fear of law and total impunity. In 2021 Shahzad Akbar tried to encroach a piece of land situated in Gojar Khan, Punjab of Federal Minister for Privatization Muhammad Mian Soomro, this effort failed when Mr. Soomro used his influence and vacated his plot from the illegal encroachment of Shahzad Akbar. It was an ugly showdown, but Akbar had to retreat.

Another controversy was when Shahzad Akbar was photographed outside a very rich and influential Pakistani businessman’s residence in London with a bag. Many speculations were made and it is said many PTI members and cabinet colleagues were disturbed and embarrassed.

Akbar has been holding news conferences, making tall claims mainly targeting the Sharifs and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, for their alleged corruption. He even held weekly news conferences and then this frequency was reduced gradually. One of his claims was he has a truckload full of evidence which the public is still waiting for.

From reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa to bringing back the looted money and holding Sharif and Zardari family accountable for the alleged money laundering, the former Advisor to Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Barrister Mirza Shahzad Akbar has failed to materialize almost all the promises he made and in the process hurting PTI’s electoral promise of accountability. Most PTI senior party members and the ideological old guard has expressed resentment against Shahzad Akbar for his failings, lies, and notorious activities.

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Barrister Shahzad Akbar who held three offices at the same time was considered one of the powerful members of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet. Soon after coming into power, the prime minister assigned him the task of bringing back the looted money and holding the corrupt politicians accountable for their alleged corruption. However, neither the looted money was retrieved nor any alleged corrupt politician has been convicted by Shahzad Akbar-led accountability drive. In fact, thanks to Shahzad Akbar the entire PTI accountability claim has become bogus.

Within a month after coming into power, the PTI-led government established a task force to retrieve the ill-gotten money from abroad. The task force headed by Shahzad Akbar was assigned to retrieve the alleged $200 billion stolen money from Pakistan stashed in the offshore bank accounts.

Nonetheless, despite the passage of more than three years into power, neither Mirza Shahzad Akbar led the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) nor any other government agency succeeded to bring back the promised $200 billion from abroad.

Many political pundits raised questions on the Mirza Shahzad Akbar-led accountability drive which failed to retrieve the looted money. Apart from bringing back the plundered money, the Shahzad Akbar-led accountability team failed to prosecute any accused in money laundering cases. The political pundits believe that the continuous failure in bringing back the stolen money or failed prosecution has caused the removal of the accountability czar from his office as Prime Minister Imran Khan was not happy with his performance.

Before coming into power the main slogan on which PTI Chairman Imran Khan built the entire narrative was that he will hold every corrupt politician accountable and bring back the looted money into Pakistan.

However, after the passage of more than three years, even his followers started raising questions that when will their dream of accountability be fulfilled as neither any stolen money has been brought back to the country nor any corrupt politicians were sent behind the bars.

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Although Barrister Shahzad Akbar seemed very active and every other week he held press conferences to assure the nation that they have detected money laundering, and soon the looted money will be brought back but these promises and the claims could not be materialized into reality.

It was Barrister Shahzad Akbar who headed the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) team to collect the evidence against Justice Qazi Faez Isa to file a reference against him and had confirmed it to PM Khan and the nation that they verified all the evidence against the honorable Judge of the Supreme Court before filing the reference against him.

A perusal of the reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa proved that the Prime Minister’s Office through its Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) had played the lead role in verifying the facts, collecting the evidence against members of the higher judiciary, and filing the reference before the Supreme Judicial Council.

Shahzad Akbar had told the media that the verification process was sped up so that the information about judges should not be leaked to the media.

Interestingly, the Shahzad Akbar-led team completed the investigation process and verified the facts against the honorable judge from UK and Pakistan within 28 days. However, the same speed was not evident in other cases as was displayed in Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s case.

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Shahzad Akbar’s ARU also held an investigation into alleged money laundering and fake accounts of the Sharif and Zardari family but both the families have not been convicted in any of these cases as of today. It is because of these failures which led Shahzad Akbar’s exit from Imran Khan’s cabinet. Sources claim that the prime minister was not happy with his performance.

The prime reason for Shahzad Akbar’s resignation was Prime Imran Khan’s displeasure over providing incomplete details of corruption cases, making false claims, and remaining busy in personal affairs for his personal gains. Sources say that various intelligence was provided to PM about Shahzad Akbar’s activities and PM was advised that Shahzad Akbar may end up embroiled in corruption cases himself and that it is best to show him the door and distance himself from Akbar.

It was learned that the prime minister had sought details of corruption cases from Shahzad Akbar a few days ago but the Prime Minister Office (PMO) found contradictions between the adviser’s briefing and documents of the cases.

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Sources added that PMO had also detected contradictions in the timelines of the cases as compared to Akbar’s briefing to PM Imran Khan. PM Khan had expressed displeasure over Akbar’s performance and he asked the adviser to tender his resignation.

Sources say that Shahzad Akbar finds himself isolated as his former cabinet members and other PTI party members have started distancing themselves from once the powerful accountability czar. Some claim that Shahzad Akbar has already started making efforts to reach out to opposition members to secure himself in the event the PTI government loses power. What can he offer to the opposition especially with the bitterness they have against him is to be seen. Prime Minister Imran Khan will have to do a lot to convince the general public that his accountability claims were genuine. The next few months will be damage control for PTI post the Shahzad Akbar debacle.