Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday in a press conference presented new evidence allegedly implicating Sharif family in Panama Leaks. The Chairman was of the view that collecting and presenting evidence in the court of law is not the job of a political party but that of state investigative institutions.
He was accompanied by other senior leaders of PTI during the press conference.
PTI Chairman claimed that the letter by the Qatari prince was a fraud and that PTI would expose it.
A larger bench of Supreme Court (SC) headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will resume the hearing of Panama Leaks case today.
PTI General Secretary Jehangir Tareen led the party’s presentation of ‘evidence’ it has gathered on the case, with a focus on an alleged exchange of emails between Mossack Fonseca and Minerva Trust & Corporate Services Ltd.
Khan said that a letter dispatched by a company to Nescol and Nielson, declared daughter of Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz as the owner.
He said that relevant documents and copy of Maryam’s passport was attached with the letter.
He said that Maryam Nawaz was not the trustee but was a beneficiary owner of the companies and Mayfair flats were also in fact owned by her. Imran said that Maryam claims that she lived with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which means that she was a dependant of Nawaz Sharif, making all this wealth not hers but Nawaz Sharif’s.
Imran said that Nawaz Sharif’s money had been laundered abroad and Maryam Nawaz had acted as his front. He challenged the government to sue the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for naming the Sharif family in the Panama Leaks scandal if their claims of innocence were really true.
“It is not my money but the money of the Pakistani nation which has been stolen,” said Imran.
He said he has full confidence in the Supreme Court bench that is hearing the case.
He said that Nawaz Sharif has lied both on the floor of the House as well as in the court. He also questioned the claims made by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz in a document she filed in the apex court regarding her asset details.
“Maryam Nawaz is the central figure in the Panama Papers case,” he alleged.
Documents reveal
Documents presented by PTI as evidence are ‘officially verified as per British law’ and Jahangir Tareen has played vital role in obtaining these documents.
PTI says that the documents prove that Sharif brothers were owners of these properties in London before 2006.
PTI has filed this new evidence, consisting of 40-page additional documents, to the SC. The context of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif interview in 2012 has also been made a part of these documents.
It has been revealed in these documents that Mossack Fonseca had directed Minerva Services and Samba Financial Groups to provide ownership details after every six months.
Minerva Services had told that Maryam Safdar was beneficial owner of off-shore companies.
The documents submitted on Tuesday include letters exchanged in 2012 between Mossack Fonseca and Minerva Services over beneficial owners and an email record.
Sharif family changes legal team
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and his family have once again changed the legal experts team.
According to details, senior advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan would appear before the apex court on behalf of PM in place of Salman Aslam Butt, former counsel of PM in Panama case. Shahid Hamid will appear on behalf of Hassan Nawaz and Maryam Safdar, while Salman Akram Raja would plead the case for Hussain Nawaz. Salman Butt would appear before the court on behalf of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.