JIT asks banks to provide Sharifs’ account details

• Hussain to again appear before JIT today; Hassan arrives, as he receives summon by JIT

In an unprecedented move, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT)—tasked with probing the offshore assets of Sharif family—wrote a letter to all the banks in Pakistan, asking Sharif family’s bank account details from 1991 until now.

Besides Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his wife, mother and sons, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza and Salman Shehbaz’s account details have also been called for by the JIT. Meanwhile, the JIT after examining the record produced by PM’s son has once again summoned Hussain Nawaz on Thursday (today), sources said.

He will appear before the JIT for the third time. Sources said that prime minister’s youngest son Hassan Nawaz failed to appear before the JIT on Wednesday despite being asked to. Sources told Pakistan Today that Hassan Nawaz was summoned by JIT but he did not appear on Wednesday; however, Sharif family has claimed that Hassan was not summoned by the JIT today, and had reached Pakistan last night. Sources claimed that once Maryam and Hassan came to Pakistan, they will both be presented before the JIT in the coming days.

Meanwhile, on the directions of JIT members, Islamabad police have increased security in and around the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA)—office of the JIT. Motorway police also blocked the I-8 interchange road towards Shifa International Hospital due to which dozens of patients suffered. “Neither the authorities came in the knowledge of public that these roads would block due to certain security reasons nor they advised an optional route, which created a great confusion; hence, public suffered,” said Muhammad Imran, a biker, while talking to this scribe.

Responding to questions, motorway police personnel told this scribe that they [motorway police] were told by the high-ups to close these roads going towards FJA, in order to make it tough for the N-league leaders and supporters to shape themselves in a mob outside FJA, which irritates JIT and could’ve resulted in any untoward incident.

In the meantime, some media outlets revealed that JIT had summoned the SECP chairman. Taking notice of the news, SECP spokesman said that the authority has not yet received any summon of JIT till 2pm [government office timing in Ramzan]. He further said that SECP has formed a four-member committee on the recommendations of Bilal Rasool—SECP representative in JIT—which is entertaining the JIT.

A day before yesterday, on his second arrival at FJA, Hussain was greeted by a horde of PML-N activists, including premier’s political secretary Asif Kirmani, MNA Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Senator Chaudhry Tanvir, MNA Maiza Hameed, Danyal Aziz, and Hanif Abbasi along with Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz, who also reached the venue along with party workers.

Afterwards, Hussain Nawaz recorded his statement before the JIT, which questioned him for five and a half hours. This was his second appearance before the JIT. Sources said that the JIT had asked for important documents related to 16 areas of interest—from offshore companies, foreign bank statements, tax returns and properties. Earlier, he had appeared before the Supreme Court-appointed JIT on Sunday, May 28.

The premier’s son had refused to answer any question put forth by the JIT, saying that the JIT’s status was ‘sub-judice’ as he had already filed a petition before the apex court, regarding two of its constituents. On Monday, the special bench overseeing the implementation of the JIT probe reposed its confidence in the body, in light of objections raised towards two team members by the prime minister’s son.

The three-member bench disregarded the objections raised by Hussain and directed the JIT to continue working according to the law, and said it would not be replacing any member of the high-profile probe team. Earlier, the bench came down hard on officials snubbing summons by the JIT. He had objected to the inclusion of two members—Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s Bilal Rasool and State Bank of Pakistan’s Amer Aziz—accusing them of being close to the PML-N’s political rivals. The three-member bench of the court declared that the JIT could not be reconstituted merely over reservations.

Previously, the JIT had issued another summon on May 28, directing Hussain Nawaz to appear before the team again on Tuesday, along with all relevant records, documents and material for the recording of his statement and an examination by the JIT. Following his hours-long interview by the JIT, Hussain told journalists that he responded to all the questions asked by the JIT members. He further said that he was being questioned under a legal process and he was responding to the questions to prove that he respected the law.

Individual’s privy to the investigation, however, claimed that the JIT’s questions were related to the ownership of London flats and how the Sharif family came to purchase these properties. JIT had asked the PM’s son why he kept changing his stance over the source of income for those properties in interviews telecast by different television channels. The interview also included questions on the contradictions between his accounts in different interviews and what he had submitted in a sworn statement before the Supreme Court.

Some of the JIT’s questions were also related to offshore companies, the letter from the Qatari prince and other related issues, sources claimed. However, Hussain Nawaz’ responses were not different from what he submitted in his concise statement before the Supreme Court, they said. They said that the son of the PM gave details of the investments made by his late grandfather in the UAE and Saudi Arabia following the nationalisation of industries in Pakistan. He also narrated the situation following the October 1999 coup, when his family, including the prime minister, was put behind bars.

Later, he made it clear, “I will approach the court again if I felt that I was not being dealt fairly.” In response to a question, Hussain said that he will appear again before the JIT if asked and added that he was not served with any new summon as yet. “I was fasting when I appeared before the JIT. They kept me waiting for over two hours, but I had to wait because I wanted to answer them properly,” he said.