Peshawar, The recent amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are set to cost Pakistan approximately 150 billion rupees annually, with the potential closure of corruption cases valued at 1100 billion rupees, as per Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Anti-Corruption, Brigadier (R) Muhammad Mossadeq Abbasi.

According to Directorate General Information and PRs – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Brigadier Abbasi highlighted in a press conference at the Information Cell Civil Secretariat that these amendments will render the NAB institution ineffective, which he argued is detrimental to both the country’s governance and financial health. The amendments are also said to contravene international laws. Further addressing the “Dubai Leaks,” Abbasi clarified that actions under tax evasion laws or the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2012, would be pursued based on whether the sources of funds are known or not.

Brigadier Abbasi criticized the reduced capability of NAB to tackle white-collar crime and corruption following these legislative changes, noting a drastic drop in recovery from an annual 160 billion rupees to a few billion. He lamented that corruption cases involving significant political figures are likely to be dismissed due to the new amendments, undermining previous anti-corruption efforts. Additionally, he pointed out that the changes would impact major corruption cases internationally recognized, such as those involving Surrey Mahal and the Panama Papers, by eliminating the need for disclosing sources of income, further weakening NAB’s prosecutorial power.