Norway’s top prosecuting authority has dismissed a 16-year-old alleged corruption case against Norwegian-Pakistani businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor, citing insufficient evidence (Geo News).
The authority found there was not enough evidence either to prosecute him or to sustain the charge. The case has been dropped “due to the state of the evidence”, which was found to be “insufficient”, and the prosecuting authority has ordered Norwegian law enforcement agencies to act on the dismissal.
Zahoor had been wanted and charged in connection with a multi-million-kroner fraud against the bank Nordea in 2010 — a charge he consistently denied and challenged through a series of legal actions.
The sixteen-year duration is the part that will draw attention beyond the individual case. A charge that could not be sustained on the evidence remained live long enough to shape a person’s ability to travel, bank and do business for the better part of two decades.
In recent months Zahoor brought his own legal action against senior Norwegian prosecutor Carl Graff Hartmann, alleging a years-long conspiracy against him in collusion with the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang.
The case had a Pakistani dimension as well: Zahoor featured in domestic political controversy over allegations concerning gifted watches, and the Norwegian proceedings were repeatedly cited in that argument.
