Sharif family has owned London flats since ’90s: BBC report

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  • PTI Spokesman Naeemul Haq says PM will have to surrender before the law of the land

The news report by BBC Urdu regarding Sharif family’s London flats has helped the claims of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who now say that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been left with no option but to surrender before the law of the land.

PTI Central Secretary Information Naeemul Haq, in reaction over the BBC Urdu report, has stated that the report has completely exposed the lies of the premier before the nation.

He said that the PM could have avoided this humiliation had he not lied before the nation.

The BBC Urdu report says that the properties owned by the Sharif family in London’s upscale Park Lane neighbourhood were purchased in the 1990s and there has been no change of ownership since then.

According to official documents available with BBC Urdu, the four flats were purchased in the name of the Nielsen and Nescoll companies.

Naeemul Haq said that Nawaz Sharif has wasted nine months to provide cover to his lies.

“The PM lied on the floor of the Parliament and before the nation; he changed his lawyers time and again to conceal his lies in the apex court,” he added.

Naeem said that despite efforts by the ruling party, they have failed to hide the truth from the public.

He said that Nawaz Sharif has no way to escape accountability, adding that the premier and his family did not take those who published Panama Leaks to the court. He said that PTI will see whether the family will sue BBC Urdu for its report.

According to the documents, an official record of companies doing business in the United Kingdom reveals that when Hassan Nawaz established Flagship Investment Ltd in 2001, the address he provided at the time of registration of the company was that of his Park Lane apartment.

According to the report, Neilson and Nescoll purchased the following flats:  Flat 17 on June 1, 1993; Flat 16 on July 31, 1995; Flat 16A on July 31, 1995; and Flat 17A on July 30, 1996. There has been no change in ownership since then.

After the Panama Papers were published, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son, Hussain Nawaz, had accepted the family’s ownership of Nielsen and Nescoll.

Hussain had said: “The Park Lane apartments in London are ours, two offshore companies, Nielsen and Nescoll, own these flats and I am the beneficial owner of these companies, working under a trust held by my sister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.”

Flat 12A is owned by Flagship Investment Company since 2004. Hassan Nawaz is the dfirector of Flagship which was created in 2001, the report added.