Ex-AG of Pakistan jailed for concealing dual nationality

Islamabad, July 31 (IANS) A former Auditor General of Pakistan was sentenced to one year in prison here by a court on Monday for concealing that he also held Canadian nationality.

The prosecution presented evidence confirming that Muhammad Akhtar Buland Rana was also a Canadian national. Senior civil Judge Mohammad Shabbir handed down the punishment to Rana, the Dawn reported.

Rana has been shifted to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

The government sacked Rana in 2015 after the Supreme Judicial Council found him guilty of misconduct.

In 2014, a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report revealed that Rana withdrew Rs 4.62 million from the national exchequer in excess of his salary and privileges in violation of rules and regulations.

There were also complaints against his unsanctioned foreign visits, his four passports (three Pakistani and one Canadian) and availing long leaves to complete residence requirements in Canada for immigration purposes along with allegations of abuse of power.

The Federal Investigation Agency filed a case against Rana for obtaining multiple Pakistani passports while still holding a Canadian passport. Rana apparently "never declared his other nationality".

Rana obtained the first passport in Islamabad in 1998. The second passport was issued from Toronto in 2002. Two more official machine-readable passports were issued in 2005 and 2011 in Pakistan. In 2012, he was issued a Pakistani diplomatic passport.

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