Illegal foreigners buy properties worth billions with fake CNICs

ISLAMABAD: A Task Force has been apprised that illegal foreigners have acquired properties and businesses worth billions of rupees in Pakistan using fake or fraudulently obtained computerised national identity cards (CNICs).

The Task Force, which was formed to devise a mechanism for identifying and confiscating such assets, held a meeting on Friday where the Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials presented the legal aspects and the proposed plan of action.

According to sources, the MoI has received a list of properties and businesses owned by illegal foreigners, as well as a list of persons whose CNICs have been blocked by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) due to doubts about their authenticity.

The NADRA officials told the meeting that there are two types of CNICs involved: those that are completely fake and have no record in the NADRA system, and those that are obtained through illegal intrusion in the NADRA setup.

The MoI officials said that the illegal assets can be categorized into two types: those that are acquired on fake or illegally obtained CNICs, and those that are benami or held in the name of someone else.

The NADRA officials suggested that the data of fake or illegally obtained CNIC holders would be shared with the district-level committees (DLCs), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and the development authorities for verification and action.

The meeting decided that NADRA would share the district-wise lists of fake or illegally obtained CNICs with all the provincial governments for consideration by the respective DLCs, which would finalize the lists within a month, after which NADRA would declare these cards as invalid. The MoI would write to the chief secretaries concerned to ensure the completion of this task within the stipulated time.

Sanam Saeed, Nadia Jamil speak out against deportation of illegal foreigners

Sources said that the meeting also discussed the need to segregate the data of fake or illegally obtained CNIC holders into tax filers and non-filers in collaboration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The MoI officials informed the forum that the benami properties are being dealt with by the FBR under the Benami (Transactions) Prohibition Act, 2017, and that there is a separate committee on this matter.

The officials stressed the need to take action against the illegal foreigners in possession of such properties and businesses, but also pointed out the legal challenges and court decisions that hinder the impounding of such CNICs.

The meeting also suggested that there should be a mechanism for rewarding the whistleblowers who report such cases, and that legal opinion should be sought for this purpose.