OSLO/ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 -- The decision that ended Umar Farooq Zahoor's 16-year ordeal was, in substance, taken once before in 2012, by the Oslo Police, and then quietly set aside. The prosecution now set aside the case due a lack of evidence.

That is the detail that stands out in the legal documents now closing the corruption case against the Norwegian-Pakistani businessman. Norway's top prosecuting authority has dismissed the case outright, concluding there is not enough evidence to prosecute him or to justify keeping the file open at all.

Start at the beginning. Norwegian law-enforcement authorities opened their investigation in 2010, into a multi-million-kroner fraud against the bank Nordea. Zahoor was drawn into it and was eventual...