ISLAMABAD – July 12, 2025: Former accountability czar and head of the now-defunct Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), Shehzad Akbar, has emerged as a central figure in the ongoing £190 million reference, with investigators accusing him of masterminding a controversial deal that allegedly caused massive financial damage to the state.
Sources familiar with the inquiry claim Akbar was the architect behind a covert scheme to reroute funds—originally recovered from abroad—into a private housing society’s account in Pakistan, bypassing key institutions and established legal protocols.
A confidential deed, reportedly signed by Akbar on November 6, 2019—weeks before any formal cabinet approval—has raised serious red flags among investigators. The document, inked ahead of the ARU’s restructuring and prior to a major cabinet meeting, is now being viewed as a deliberate attempt to conceal critical facts.
According to case documents, the £190 million in question was part of a civil settlement between the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and individuals under investigation for illicit assets, including luxury properties in London. The funds were meant to be deposited in an official account of the Pakistani government. However, records show they were redirected to a designated account under the name of the Supreme Court’s Registrar, ultimately benefiting a private housing developer.
The deed was also co-signed by Ziaul Mustafa Naseem, a key associate of Akbar, who now also faces legal scrutiny. Investigators allege the duo misrepresented the transaction as a transparent transfer to the state—when in fact, it was anything but.
Akbar’s overseas travel records reveal he made two trips to the United Kingdom in 2019—once in February and again in May—during which he reportedly met with high-ranking British officials, including the UK Home Secretary and the NCA’s Director General. Sources allege that during these meetings, Akbar privately negotiated terms for repatriating the funds without involving Pakistan’s financial regulators, such as the State Bank of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), or the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
“The deliberate sidelining of key institutions and lack of transparency led to a significant financial setback for the country,” one official close to the probe said.
Investigators believe Akbar operated well beyond the ARU’s legal mandate. They allege he, along with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan and Principal Secretary Azam Khan, orchestrated a secretive arrangement without informing the full cabinet of the deed’s contents. Although cabinet approval for the repatriation deal was granted on December 3, 2019, Akbar had already signed the confidentiality agreement nearly a month earlier.
UK authorities had earlier seized £120 million under the UK’s Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The amount was linked to a Pakistani business magnate with assets including the prestigious 1 Hyde Park Place in London.
Documents also show that the ARU entered into a settlement with the housing society in March 2019, paving the way for the UK funds to be returned via private legal arrangements. The Supreme Court, around the same time, had issued conditional relief in related corruption cases involving the same business group.
Legal experts now believe Akbar’s actions—and the government’s subsequent endorsement—led to one of the largest diversions of recovered funds in Pakistan’s recent history.
NAB’s Broader Case
The £190 million reference, now being prosecuted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), also names former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi as primary accused. NAB claims the couple received land worth billions of rupees from the housing developer in exchange for facilitating the fund transfer and regulatory approvals.
The reference was filed on December 1, 2023, with eight individuals originally named. By January 6, 2024, six of the accused, including Akbar, had been declared proclaimed offenders after failing to appear in court.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were formally indicted on February 27, 2024. Since then, NAB has presented testimony from 35 prosecution witnesses, including former senior government officials such as Azam Khan, former Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, and ex-Federal Minister Zubaida Jalal.
The case has seen three different judges preside over proceedings, and lead investigator Mian Umar Nadeem has faced cross-examination across 38 hearings. Despite being granted 15 opportunities, the defence has so far failed to produce a single witness.
As the trial nears its conclusion, Akbar’s alleged role remains one of its most controversial aspects, raising critical questions about governance, transparency, and abuse of public office.
