ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that there was no money-trail for the acquisition of the Mayfair flats in London owned by PM Sharif’s family. It further stated that no transfer of funds took place from Pakistan to any foreign country in light of available evidence. The apex court was hearing a case pertaining to the alleged offshore wealth of the premier’s family in London.
PTI’s counsel, Naeem Bukhari, submitted a two-page summary of a transaction questioning the Sharif family’s investment of Dhs12 million in Qatar in 1980 despite owing the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) Dhs 14 million.
Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh remarked that the Sharifs had failed to explain how they had cleared the aforementioned dues in 1980 and observed that the Sharifs had also failed to explain how they acquired the Jeddah factory.
The bench also observed that there was no similarity between the signatures of Nawaz Sharif’s cousin Tariq Shafi on an affidavit submitted before the court. Bukhari also contended that the Sharifs had failed to produce a single document showing how money had been transferred from Pakistan to the Middle East and the UK.
The party claims to have come up with fresh evidence this week to press its stance that Sharif’s London properties had been purchased in the 1990s rather than the ruling family’s claim of buying them in 2006.
On Monday, during the hearing, the PTI contended that the Sharif family owned both Nelson and Nescol companies in 1999. According to party sources, the new ‘evidence’ was brought from London.
A treasure trove of classified documents, including a Deutsche Bank document, leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca earlier this year revealed that the three scions of the Sharif family were among some of the influential people who owned offshore businesses across international tax havens and hid them from official assets.
