- Maryam Nawaz to appear before JIT on July 5
ISLAMABAD, June 30: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq Hijazi along with an executive director and five other top-level directors presented himself before the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Sharif family’s business dealings abroad on Friday.
The SECP officials were grilled by the JIT for several hours and sources privy to the information said that they had submitted all documents with reference to the Sharif family to the probe team.
The Federal Investigation Agency is still looking into the SECP’s alleged tampering of the Sharif family’s financial documents.
On Thursday, Retired Lt Gen Mohammad Amjad, who was appointed first chairman of NAB between 1999 and 2000 by former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, appeared before the JIT at the Federal Judicial Academy. Sources said the former NAB chief shared details of the Hudaibya Paper Mills, Ittefaq Foundries and Raiwind assets references, prepared by NAB against Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family.
The JIT has also summoned the prime minister’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, to appear before it on July 5, a move that the ruling party has termed as an “egoistic decision”, but has agreed to comply with the summons.
Maryam will be the seventh member of her family summoned so far in connection with the ongoing investigation into money laundering allegations.
The JIT summoned her brothers Hussain and Hassan on July 3 and 4, respectively. Hussain Nawaz has already appeared before the JIT five times since May 28.
Other family members of the Sharif family who have appeared before the JIT include Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the PM’s son-in-law retired captain Mohammad Safdar and the PM’s cousin Tariq Shafi.
Sources privy to the development said the JIT would ask Maryam Nawaz about her offshore companies and her financial resources.
She may also be asked questions regarding an alleged media campaign against the JIT in newspapers, and on television channels and social media, since there is an impression that she is leading the charge in this regard.
The JIT criticised the media for hampering its investigation in its report submitted to the apex court and highlighted comments made by 22 journalists, four politicians and three legal experts in 29 different talk shows.-Agencies
