Crux of the matter: Sharif family and the Aladdin’s lamp

Something about Hussain Nawaz’s rags to riches narrative just doesn’t sound right.

After the circulation of the Panama Papers, explanation is needed from the Sharif family about the assets abroad which they are reluctant to provide.

Was any money from Pakistan used to set up the business empire abroad?

Was the money sent through legal channels or through other means like hundi?

 

We are supposed  to believe that in about three years time the factory was not only in full production but also able to pay off its loans. It could also generate enough funds to buy costly properties in London. This is a story out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Hussain Nawaz has adamantly refused to reveal the source of funds originally used to set up the two steel mills in Saudi Arabia. He maintains that the family was made to leave the country even without passport let alone investable funds. The first family enterprise in Saudi Arabia was Al Azizia Steel Company, established in 2002. A year earlier on July 8, 2001 the Gulf News had published a story about the family approaching Saudi banks for loans. It is presumed that the banks had obliged. But the banks always demand collateral. How was this arranged? Hussain Nawaz has vaguely hinted at unnamed friends having given loans. He said funds were sent to Saudi Arabia for the family’s living but mentions no figure.

Al Azizia Steel Company had 195 employees. Its annual capacity was 100,000 MT with a Steel Billet Plant having the capacity of 500,000 MT. it sold  Reinforcement Bars, Square Bars and Plain Round Bars.

We are supposed  to believe that in about three years time the factory was not only in full production but also able to pay off its loans. It could also generate enough funds to buy costly properties in London. This is a story out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Another miracle was that the funds generated by Al Azizia were sufficient enough to give birth to a larger factory than the one which had supplied the capital for setting it up.

The Hill Metals EST is no petty workshop. Established in the year 2005 the HME employs 385 workers and admin staff, produces billets, recycled steel scrap and shredded steel. Three years back a billet Plant was under construction while the factory was preparing to produce Special Steels. Hussain Nawaz’s name is listed as the factory’s MD.  The Hill Metals Establishment today calls itself “one of the leading steel companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and middle-east.”

Husasin Nawaz does not tell us about how the fruits of prosperity were distributed among the three children of Mian Nawaz Sharif. He says he owns all the assets. He claims he lent the money to younger brother Hasan Nawaz to set up a business in London.

 

Did the Sharifs have earlier business links with Saudi Arabia? The Daily Times published a report entitled “Sharifs investing in KSA” on September 19, 2002.

Hasan Nawaz has been in business since 2001, when he became the director of the Flagships Investments Ltd – a year before Al Azizia started to lay the golden eggs.  Hussain and his family had come to Saudi Arabia only a year and a half ago empty handed, we are told. How did he provide the required capital to Hasan?

Hussain claims his sister Maryam Safdar is only a trustee while he himself is the “beneficial owner” of the various enterprises which are under the family’s control. The Panama Papers on the other hand show her signing mortgage papers as a “beneficial owner “of a shell company. The matter cannot be settled except through a forensic investigation by a reputed international auditing firm.

Is there no conflict of interests with Nawaz Sharif being the Prime Minister and his sons doing business? Take this example before you decide:

On August 4, 2013 a couple of months after he assumed office, Nawaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia. It was the Prime minister’s second foreign tour after coming to power Nawaz Sharif called on Saudi King Abdullah. He was accompanied by his illustrious son Hussain Nawaz who was doing business in the kingdom. Obviously the young entrepreneur needed introduction to government functionaries to thrive in a foreign country. He could not have a better contact and a reference than the Saudi king. The visit was bound to send a signal that Hussain had access to the high and mighty in the country.  Does this not amount to the Prime Minister promoting the business of his son?

Isn’t Nawaz Sharif a recipient of the profits earned by his sons?.

In December 2013 the Prime Minister provided the statement of assets to the Election Commission for the years 2012-13. There was in interesting entry in the statement of the billionaire Nawaz Sharif.  He had received Rs197.4m remittances from his son Hussain Nawaz. It was not an innocent gift like a Persian rug or a costly wrist watch, but a hefty sum of Rs 19 crore, 74 lakh  Does it not require looking into?

Did the Sharifs have earlier business links with Saudi Arabia? The Daily Times published a report entitled “Sharifs investing in KSA” on September 19, 2002. Among other things the paper claimed that the Sharifs had been making huge investments in Saudi Arabia since 1989. The investments were made in Al Tuwairqu Group, a leading business group in the Middle East. The group has five large industrial divisions, one of which owned by the Sharif family is Al Ittefaq Steel Products Factory (AISPF). The AISPF was acquired in 1989 and has a production capacity of 600,000 metric tonnes of various steel products, including MS angles, flat bars, square bars, plain round bars, reinforcement bars and channels. Obviously investments for the project must have gone from Pakistan. Were these sent through legal means?