- Sharifs another letter from Qatari prince to establish London flats’ money trail
- Judges ask Sharifs to clarify the money trail for London apartments
ISLAMABAD, January 26: The Sharif family on Thursday submitted another letter from a Qatari prince in the Supreme Court to establish the money trail of London apartments.
The London apartments are at the centre of the Panamagate case being heard by a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court.
In his second letter to the apex court, Qatari Prince Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al Thani claimed that an investment of 12 million dirhams contributed by Mian Muhammad Sharif (father of PM Nawaz) was made “by way of provision of cash”.
The statement submitted in the apex court by the premier’s counsel Advocate Salman Akram Raja, further stated that an amount of $8 million which was due to Mian Sharif, was settled “by the way of delivery of bearer shares of Nescol Ltd and Neilson Enterprises Ltd to a representative of PM Nawaz’s son Hussain Nawaz in 2006”.
In November last year, the Sharif family revealed that the four luxury apartments were purchased through offshore investments involving a member of the Qatari royal family. A letter purportedly written by a Qatari prince claimed that the London properties were proceeds of their real estate businesses in which the prime minister’s father, Mian Muhammad Sharif, had invested 12 million dirhams in 1980.
In the earlier letter, the Qatari prince stated that his father had longstanding business relations with PM Nawaz’s father which were coordinated through the prince’s eldest brother. “As per my understanding at that time an aggregate sum of around 12 million dirhams was contributed by Mian Sharif, originating from the sale of business in Dubai, UAE,” it said.
Meanwhile, PM’s sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz also submitted their replies in the apex court with certain facts and documents to establish the money trail for the purchase of the offshore property.
In his reply, Hussain claimed that he completed his education in the UK in 1996 and was involved in father’s business till October 1999 in Pakistan.
During the hearing, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who is heading a five-judge larger bench of the apex court to hear a slew of petitions filed against the Sharif family over alleged corruption, asked Advocate Shahid Hamid, the Sharifs’ counsel, to provide dates of the gifts given by Hussain to Nawaz, Nawaz’s gift to Maryam Nawaz for purchase of 143 kanal land and Maryam’s gift to the PM.
The top court also sought the complete record of the gift transactions from the Sharif family.
The Sharif family’s attorney faced a tough time in the Supreme Court on Wednesday as judges looked to him to clarify the money trail for London apartments. On the 15th hearing of the case, a five-judge bench – headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa – examined the issue of whether PM Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Safdar was his dependent and whether she is a beneficiary of the London properties or had acted as a front-person for her father.-Agencies
