Week 4 of the JIT; What do we know so far?
By
News Desk
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June 3, 2017
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Hussain Nawaz appeared before the Panamagate JIT today, yet again. This is the fourth time he has been summoned in a week before the Supreme Court appointed Joint Investigation Team tasked with investigating the purported money laundering of the Sharif family.
Details of the latest hearing have yet to be released but reportedly, his past three hearings have been grueling.
His first appearance before the JIT had been on Sunday when he had been summoned before the JIT on 24 hour notice for questioning.
In his third appearance before the JIT sources say that he was visibly jittery while being questioned by the head of the JIT Additional Director General Wajid Zia.
He had initially raised concerns over two members of the JIT, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s Bilal Rasool and State Bank of Pakistan’s Amer Aziz, accusing them of being close to the PML-N’s political rivals. The three-member bench of the Supreme Court, however, declared that the JIT could not be reconstituted merely over reservations.
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His first appearance was brief but after the Supreme Court rejected his petition, He appeared before the JIT the next day and was interrogated for 5 hours. He was also handed a questionnaire regarding financial transactions and assets of the Sharif family.
In his third appearance before the JIT sources say that he was visibly jittery while being questioned by the head of the JIT Additional Director General Wajid Zia.
JIT asked him to state when he became the owner of London Mayfair flats? Hussain replied that he became the owner of those flats in 2006. Earlier it was the property of the Qatari prince, he added.
He said that his grandfather, Muhammad Sharif had good terms and was also a business partner with the Qatari prince.
JIT continued with their questions and asked him about why his mother told the media, in the interviews telecast by different television channels in early 2000’s, that the London property was purchased for the stay of Sharif children’s during their study period? He answered that what his mother had said was her point of view but he became the owner of the said flats in 2006. Hussain Nawaz’s responses where similar to the concise statement he had submitted before the Supreme Court during the hearing.
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JIT asked him if his sister, Maryam Nawaz, was also the beneficiary of offshore companies and did she own any part of the London property. Hussain replied in the affirmative.
JIT quizzed Hussain means through which the money had come from Pakistan. He said that he had been too young to remember these details but reaffirmed that the property was inherited by him from his grandfather
He also said that all of assets and business are legitimate.
JIT asked him if his sister, Maryam Nawaz, was also the beneficiary of offshore companies and did she own any part of the London property. Hussain replied in the affirmative.
JIT members went on to ask Hussain about the timeline of his dependence to his father to which he replied that he had been dependent till he started his own business.
On Friday, 2nd June, Hussain’s younger brother Hassan Nawaz appeared before the JIT. He had previously been expected to appear on May 31st but he had not shown up. He brought with him three volumes of documents to support his family’s claims in the Panama Papers investigation on Friday.
Unlike his elder brother, Hassan did not stop to speak to journalists instead he simply waved to his supporters and entered the JIT secretariat and underwent a seven-hour-long session with the six-member team headed by Wajid Zia, the additional director general of the Federal Investigation Agency.
Sources privy to the investigation said Friday’s session had focused on details of the businesses and transaction details of the funds Mr. Nawaz had used to establish companies in the United Kingdom.
Reportedly, the JIT questioned Mr. Nawaz with regards to an interview telecast on the BBC in which he had claimed that he was a student living in London in 1999 with no income of his own. He was asked how he managed to start his own business in London on April 12, 2001 after setting up a company named Flagship Investments Limited.
Sources aware of the proceedings have said that the questions Mr. Nawaz was asked pertained to his ownership of companies and how he managed to accumulate massive capital holdings in a short span of time.
The JIT noted that the premier’s son had admitted to having no income in 1999, but a financial report dated April 2001 showed Mr. Nawaz to have 705,000 pounds sterling to his credit. The investigation team also quizzed him about how he managed to establish 10 companies before 2005, even before his family’s Jeddah factory had been sold.
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The investigators referred to a report prepared by former PPP minister Rehman Malik and the incumbent Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s ‘confessional statement’ regarding alleged money laundering by the Sharif family with particular reference to his business and the Mayfair properties owned by his elder brother, Hussain.
He took the stance that his father had been in exile when he established the companies and managed to run his business after procuring a loan. Mr. Nawaz claimed that he established the businesses in a lawful manner and presented documents in three volumes in support of his claim.
The sources said that Hassan Nawaz rejected the allegations of financial impropriety, saying that had this been the case, Mr. Malik, the interior minister under the Pakistan Peoples Party government, would have prosecuted their family.
He took the stance that his father had been in exile when he established the companies and managed to run his business after procuring a loan. Mr. Nawaz claimed that he established the businesses in a lawful manner and presented documents in three volumes in support of his claim.
Chief operating officer of the National Bank of Pakistan Saeed Ahmed and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are also expected to be summoned by the JIT soon.
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Registrar of SCP.
