Zia-ul-Haq’s close aide General Akhtar Abdur Rahman named in Suisse Secrets leak

Zia-ul-Haq’s close aide General Akhtar Abdur Rahman named in Suisse Secrets leak

Many important and rich people across the world and their families are in trouble. One of them is former Pakistani military dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s close aide General Akhtar Abdur Rahman. He has been named in the Suisse Leaks.

The investigators say he, along with Egypt’s Omar Suleiman, Yemen’s Ghaleb Al-Qamish and Jordanian spymaster Sa’ad Khair, “ran state intelligence agencies where they controlled large black budgets that were above parliamentary and executive scrutiny. All of these figures or their family members also held personal accounts at Credit Suisse worth large sums of money, without obvious sources of personal income that could explain the wealth”.

“All four had roles in key U.S. interventions in the Middle East and Afghanistan, from the CIA’s early attempts to back anti-Soviet mujahideen in the late 1970s, to the first Gulf War in 1990, to the so-called “forever wars” launched in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001.”

In the late 1970s, OCCRP revealed, seven groups of mujahideen, who were battling Russia’s presence in Afghanistan, were backed by US. “Saudi Arabia matched U.S. funding to the jihadists dollar for dollar, often sending the money to the CIA’s Swiss bank account. The end recipient in the process was Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence group (ISI), led by Akhtar.”

In 1980s, the Pakistani general opened three Swiss accounts in the names of his sons.

“One of the two Akhtar family accounts at Credit Suisse — held jointly by Akhtar’s sons Akbar, Ghazi, and Haroon — was opened on July 1, 1985, when the sons were in their late 20s and early 30s. That same year, U.S. President Ronald Reagan would raise concerns about where the money intended for the mujahideen was going. By 2003, this account was worth at least five million Swiss francs ($3.7 million at the time). A second account, opened in January 1986 in Akbar’s name alone, was worth more than 9 million Swiss francs by November 2010 ($9.2 million at the time).”

 

More than 163 journalists from 48 media outlets in 39 countries across the globe have probed into one of the world’s wealthiest and most important banks — Credit Suisse.

Prepared under the banner of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, the document includes analysis of bank account information leaked from Switzerland’s second-largest lender.

It has revealed more that 18,000 accounts that held in excess of US$100 billion at their peaks. It is the only known leak of a major Swiss bank’s client data to journalists.

Pakistan’s General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, General Zia-ul-Haq’s close aide, is among those named as well.

What are the Suisse Secrets?

In a statement, the OCCRP says: Switzerland is a well-known destination for money from all over the world, in part because of its banking secrecy laws. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a Swiss bank account. But banks are supposed to avoid clients who earned money illegally or were involved in crimes — and reporters identified dozens of corrupt government officials, criminals, and alleged human rights abusers among Credit Suisse account holders.

“The Suisse Secrets project investigates these account holders, whose exploitation of Swiss banking secrecy is a prime example of how the international financial industry enables theft and corruption. Given Credit Suisse’s numerous pledges to reform its due diligence practices over the years, the project highlights the need for increased accountability in this sector.”

The Suisse Secrets data was provided to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung by an anonymous source more than a year ago. There are no details available on the source’s identity. Other news media involved in the investigation include The New York Times, Italy’s La Stampa, Africa Uncensored in Kenya and Argentina’s La Nacion.

What are the Suisse Secrets?

In a statement, the OCCRP says: Switzerland is a well-known destination for money from all over the world, in part because of its banking secrecy laws. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a Swiss bank account. But banks are supposed to avoid clients who earned money illegally or were involved in crimes — and reporters identified dozens of corrupt government officials, criminals, and alleged human rights abusers among Credit Suisse account holders.

“The Suisse Secrets project investigates these account holders, whose exploitation of Swiss banking secrecy is a prime example of how the international financial industry enables theft and corruption. Given Credit Suisse’s numerous pledges to reform its due diligence practices over the years, the project highlights the need for increased accountability in this sector.”

The Suisse Secrets data was provided to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung by an anonymous source more than a year ago. There are no details available on the source’s identity. Other news media involved in the investigation include The New York Times, Italy’s La Stampa, Africa Uncensored in Kenya and Argentina’s La Nacion.

 

Related post

IMRAN KHAN SECURES PROTECTIVE BAIL IN SEVEN SEPARATE CASES

IMRAN KHAN SECURES PROTECTIVE BAIL IN SEVEN SEPARATE CASES

LAHORE: In a key development, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted interim bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran…
 Ireland won the match by defeating Scotland by 6 wickets

 Ireland won the match by defeating Scotland by 6…

HOBART, Australia (AFP) – Ireland won the match by defeating Scotland by 6 wickets in the seventh match of the first stage…
Negotiations with IMF went successful. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

Negotiations with IMF went successful. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

LONDON (Anmol News) – Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that negotiations with IMF went very successful. Talking to media in London,…