LONDON/OSLO: Norway’s top prosecuting authority has dismissed a 16-year-old fraud case against Norwegian-Pakistani businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor, citing insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing and ordering authorities to withdraw any active wanted person alerts or notices.
The decision was made by Norway’s chief prosecuting authority after a review found that the evidence was not strong enough to prosecute Zahoor or justify keeping the case open, according to legal documents.
The case dates back to 2010, when Zahoor was investigated over an alleged multimillion kroner fraud involving Nordea. Zahoor has consistently denied any involvement in the fraud and challenged the allegations against him.
In 2012, Oslo police closed the investigation on evidentiary grounds and recommended that the case against him be dismissed. However, prosecutor Carl Graff Hartmann kept the case file open for years and continued making statements to the media, according to the documents.
In recent months, Zahoor filed legal proceedings against Hartmann, accusing him of defamation and of working with the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang, known as VG, to target him with what Zahoor described as false allegations, but the accusations against Hartmann remain allegations.
Zahoor had also challenged Norwegian efforts to extradite him over the fraud allegations. According to the reports, the United Arab Emirates did not comply with Norway’s extradition request because of concerns over the evidence presented against him.
The Norwegian police clearance and an investigation report by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency were also cited in a May 2023 decision by Lahore Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk, who cleared Zahoor in two fraud and money laundering cases registered against him in Pakistan in 2020.
In a statement issued through his Norwegian lawyer, Zahoor welcomed the dismissal and said he was relieved that the case had been closed by the same Norwegian authorities that had pursued it.
“I am thankful to the prosecutor who saw through the facts and dismissed the case, which was based on untruths,” Zahoor said.
The dismissal ends a long running legal matter that had remained active for more than a decade despite an earlier police recommendation to close the case.
