The Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) helped to recover Rs. 426.4 billion in the last three years, as per documents compiled by the Cabinet Division.
Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) had performed efficiently over the last three years (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s tenure) under the ARU’s supervision, according to the documents. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had made a recovery of Rs. 295.6 billion in 17 years (2000 to 2017), whereas the bureau recovered Rs. 389.5 billion in the last three years alone while aided by the ARU. Likewise, the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) recovered Rs 6.4 billion in just three years, Rs. 3.6 billion of which was recovered in 2020.
The document read, “In light of various Inquiry Commissions, constituted by the Federal Government, liabilities established and recoveries made by FBR were also off the charts. Recoveries of Rs. 30.5 billion are also directly attributed to [the] ARU.”
The ARU was established with the approval of the Federal Cabinet on 5 September 2018 as a coordinating unit. Its purpose was to provide a forum for the LEAs and other such institutions to trace new and existing cases targeting the eventual repatriation of unlawfully acquired off-shore assets.
The LEAs and organizations recover the amounts either through taxation, plea bargains, or direct recoveries to the government exchequer, depending on the nature of the case.
Furthermore, the ARU continues to network with the UK’s National Crime Agency and other foreign governments to “enter into legal instruments/MOUs to get the unlawfully acquired off-shore assets repatriated to Pakistan. [The] ARU does not recover any assets directly and assists various LEAs in [the] recovery of stolen assets,” as per the document.
