£190 million to be spent on social welfare, says Shehzad

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar clarified on Friday that £190 million, from a settlement between Malik Riaz’s family and the UK government, will be used by the federal government for social welfare.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar took to Twitter on Friday stating that of the £190 million.

£140m had been transferred to an account of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

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“Settlement agreement also entails selling 1 Hyde Park and transferring its proceeds to State of Pakistan.

Federal Govt has made an application to SCP for release of this money to the federal government for spending it on social welfare and for the poor,” he said.

Akbar’s clarification on Friday comes after questions were raised whether the money from the settlement was going to be used to pay Riaz’s fine, which was imposed on him by the Supreme Court in March.

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The top court had accepted Bahria Town Karachi’s Rs460 billion offer for the lands it occupies in Malir district of Karachi and restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from filing references against it.

He reiterated that the government of Pakistan has signed a deed of confidentiality and cannot comment on the intricacies of the case, saying: “GOP has signed a confidentiality agreement to not divulge beyond this on the matter.”

However, he added that the government is currently involved in similar matters with other governments and expecting recovery worth millions of dollars.