LONDON/OSLO: In a landmark authorized victory, the Norwegian authorities has given a clear chit to Norwegian-Pakistani businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor by dismissing a 16-years-old alleged corruption case towards him – citing an absence of enough proof to show corruption and wrongdoing.
The choice to dismiss the alleged corruption case towards Zahoor has been made by Norway’s high prosecuting authority after establishing that there’s not sufficient proof towards Zahoor both to prosecute him or to justify holding the case file open as a result of there may be lack of proof within the case, authorized paperwork present.
Not solely has the case been dropped altogether “because of the state of the proof”, which has been discovered to be “inadequate”, however the prosecuting authority has additionally ordered Norwegian legislation enforcement companies, together with the police, to “take the mandatory steps relating to any still-active wanted-person alerts/notices” in an effort to withdraw all excellent notices and warrants, domestically and internationally.
In latest months, Zahoor launched a authorized case towards senior Norwegian prosecutor Carl Graff Hartmann, alleging that he had conspired towards him over time in collusion with the right-wing Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) by repeatedly focusing on him on false grounds. Zahoor alleged, specifically, that Carl Graff Hartmann had repeatedly supplied defamatory and false narratives to his contacts within the right-wing media to settle what Zahoor described as a private enmity towards him.
Zahoor had beforehand been needed and charged in reference to the multi-million-kroner fraud towards Nordea in 2010 – a cost he all the time denied and towards which he launched a number of authorized challenges to keep up his innocence and clear his identify. He was accused of being one of many alleged principal figures behind the Nordea fraud, however Zahoor persistently denied any position within the fraud and maintained that the prosecution had no proof of his involvement.
He maintained that the banking case dated again to 2010, whereas Zahoor himself had not been to Norway since 2005. It was over the identical case that Norwegian authorities sought his extradition, however the UAE authorities refused to adjust to the request because of an absence of proof towards him.
In line with the courtroom paperwork, Norwegian law-enforcement authorities started investigating the case in 2010, with Zahoor turning into a part of the investigation and cooperating with police via his legal professionals. In 2012, Oslo Police closed the case on evidential grounds and beneficial to the general public prosecutor that the case towards Zahoor be dismissed.
Nevertheless, prosecutor Carl Graff Hartmann stored the file open for years and continued making statements to the media. After Zahoor just lately launched authorized proceedings accusing Hartmann of defamation and conspiring towards him, Norwegian authorities referred the case to the chief prosecutor for overview.
Inside per week of receiving the file, the chief prosecutor determined this week to dismiss the case fully.
The identical Oslo Police clearance letter, together with an investigation report by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Company (FIA), shaped the idea of a Might 2023 determination by Lahore judicial Justice of the Peace Ghulam Murtaza Virk clearing Zahoor in two fraud and money-laundering instances registered towards him in 2020.
Zahoor stated in an announcement issued via his Norwegian lawyer he was relieved that the high-profile fraud case towards him has been quashed by the identical Norwegian authority that constructed the case towards him.
“I’m grateful to the prosecutor who noticed via the details and dismissed the case, which was primarily based on untruths.
