- Party source says disappointed by inactive ECP, PPP will now file reference with accountability watchdog
- Concrete evidence being collected to make sure PM, his aides do not go scot-free
Disappointed by inaction of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) is all set to move a reference with the country’s top anti-graft body, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and members of his family for their alleged corrupt practices, money laundering, tax evasion and owning offshore companies according to the Panama Papers.
A well placed source in the PPP told Pakistan Today that party’s Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had directed PPP Secretary General Senator Latif Khosa to move the NAB against the Sharif family in a bid to exploit all available legal platforms to seek action by state institutions against the ruling family’s alleged corruption, money laundering and misuse of authority.
“The reference is in the process of preparation and concrete evidence is being collected to make sure that the prime minister and his aides do not escape the law,” the source said.
Senator Latif Khosa was not available for comments despite repeated calls and text messages by this scribe.
Nevertheless, it remain unclear why the PPP seeks action from institutions like the NAB and ECP, which according to analysts, are grossly compromised and have failed time and again to take action against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
On Friday, the accountability watchdog cleared Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, a close aide to Prime Minister Sharif, of corruption charges, pending against him since the year 2000.
The NAB had also failed to take action against Chaudhry Shujaat and other members of his party Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid during its government between 2002 and 2007. The same happened in the case of PPP-Patriots, a breakaway group of PPP rebels. Later, the Bureau also cleared top PPP leaders, including former president Asif Ali Zardari and his close aides, of corruption charges.
Asked why the PPP wanted to move the NAB which had been a mere spectator since the exposé made in the Panama leaks, the source said that party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wanted to exhaust all legal forums before going to the court of masses.
“Bilawal does not want to leave any excuse for the ruling party to make a hue and cry when the PPP moves the people’s court. He strongly believes in democratic system and wants to try all forums before going to the masses,” added the PPP source.
Asked when the reference is likely to be filed, the source said that preparation on data collection had already been launched and reference would be filed against the premier and his close relatives.
Documents available with Pakistan Today suggest that the PPP leadership is banking on most of those documents it had earlier filed with the ECP seeking disqualification of the prime minister and his close relatives on corruption charges.
The source said documentary proofs against the prime minister and other members of his family as well as statements of his cousins and other relatives were being collected for filing the reference.
Although the PPP source refused to share some ‘exclusive documents’ to be made part of the reference, he shared some of the details with Pakistan Today which are likely to be made part of the reference.
MONEY LAUNDERING/FAKE ACCOUNTS:
Per documents available with Pakistan Today, the PPP plans to provide documents to the NAB suggesting money-laundering of the Sharif family since 1992.
One of the documents alleges that Nawaz Sharif established a solid Monetary Foreign Exchange Base abroad in an alleged bid to convert his black money into white money under the facility of Economic Reforms Act, 1992.
For the purpose, the document alleges, the services of Javed Kayani, a nephew of Sheikh Saeed from Washington, and a director of Rai Textile Mills, Arooj Textile Mills and Chanab Sugar Mills, Sheikh Saeed, a close friend of Nawaz Sharif, were utilised.
The document details that in August 1992, Javed Kayani allegedly opened three foreign currency accounts in the name of Suleman Zia, Mohammad Ramzan and Asghar Ali with Habib Bank, AG Zurich Branch, Lahore. Investigation further reveals that these accounts were opened with fictitious identity cards.
Investigation proved that foreign exchange and travellers cheques with $ 37,94,762 were deposited and on the basis of the same, Dollar Bearer Certificates (DBCs) worth $ 49,20,000 million were issued, adds the document.
The document further alleges that Javed Kayani then opened more fake accounts in the name of Kashif Masood Qazi and Nuzhat Gohar Qazi at the Bank of America, Lahore and Sikandar Masood Qazi at Citibank, Lahore. Both banks were later pressurised into sanctioning substantial loans in respect of Hudaibiya Engineering (Pvt) Ltd and Hudaibiya Paper Mills Ltd owned by the Sharif family against cash deposits of $ 1.5 million in account of Kashif Qazi and Sikandar Qazi and $ 500,000 in account of Nuzhat Gohar Qazi.
The documents also refer to account numbers of Suleman Zia, Javed Kayani, Qazi and Sheikh Saeed families and others which were allegedly used for money laundering.
The documents also refer to the alleged transfer of ‘huge amounts’ of laundered money into offshore accounts of Hassan Nawaz’s Flagship Investments Management Ltd. The documents also include tax returns of the Flagship Investments Management Ltd.
PANAMA LEAKS:
The list also includes the ostensible/benami offshore assets owned by the Sharif family. These include:
- One Hyde Park, London, purchased on March 30, 2016 with 42.5 million British pounds.
- The document alleges that Hill Metals Est, Jeddah, one of the leading businesses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Middle East, is a benami property of Nawaz Sharif.
- Maryam Nawaz, daughter of PM Nawaz Sharif, is beneficial owner of two offshore companies established in 1993-94. The document alleges that during the establishment of these companies, Hassan, Hussain Nawaz and Maryam were underage and couldn’t own these assets. The companies involved are Nescoll Ltd, Neilson Holdings Ltd, Coomber Group Inc. and Hangun Property Holdings.
The PPP alleges that the actual owner of these companies was Nawaz Sharif, who according to the documents had injected sums of money through Hawala/Hundi during his tenure in the public office and later on.
The reference will also contain conflicting statements of the Sharif family with regards to the Panama Papers.
The reference alleges that the prime minister showed wrong asset details of his wife and children and misled the state institutions about his income tax returns. It also alleges that the prime minister has committed money-laundering. The 46-page confessional statement of Ishaq Dar will also be made part of the reference which was recorded with a judicial magistrate.
LOAN DEFAULTS:
A certificate from the State Bank of Pakistan has also been attached with the reference wherein the Sharif family had been purportedly declared a defaulter of loans worth Rs 6 billion. The PPP claims the Sharifs had been defaulters till 2013 and even if they returned this loan in 2014, the disqualification clause still applied to them, as the last elections were held in the year 2013 on the basis of which they were elected to the assemblies.
Repeated attempts were made to contact Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid for his comments on this development but he was unavailable.