Corruption case dropped against Pakistan’s former tax chief

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has dropped charges of alleged corruption against the country’s former chief tax officer and top management of leading banks.

Shabbar Zaidi, a renowned accountant, was booked for allegedly issuing unauthorized income tax refunds amounting to PKR16 billion during his tenure as chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), a post where he served from May 2019 to April 2020.

According to Geo News, Zaidi was booked in a first information report filed on October 29.

Dawn newspaper, while quoting sources, reported that Zaidi has been accused of criminal misconduct, abuse of authority, and unauthorized disbursement of public funds.

According to the FIA, three private banks, two cement factories, and one chemical company were the beneficiaries of these refunds. The agency alleged that these entities were clients of Zaidi’s private audit and consultancy firm before he was appointed FBR chairman, raising concerns of conflict of interest.

A notice, dated October 30, issued by FIA's Karachi office said the case against Zaidi, other FBR officials, and the management of Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) has been cancelled.

Interestingly, HBL at that time was headed by Muhammad Aurangzeb who is the current finance minister of Pakistan.

Analysts have said the case against Zaidi was politically motivated as he has been a vocal critic of the current government.