Panama Leaks case: NBP president alleges mistreatment by JIT members

• Says he was treated as if he was being punished ‘as a condemned person’
• ‘The long wait during appearances, particularly first five-hour wait, was very unnerving’

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Saeed Ahmed has accused the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of violating the Implementation Bench’s recent order requiring “it pays due regard for human dignity”.

In a report sent to the registrar of Supreme Court last Friday, the NBP president alleged that he was threatened, insulted and subjected to undue pressure during questioning by members of the JIT probing Panama Leaks.

The exact nature of threats or undue pressure was omitted on the pretext that the questions and their relevance to the investigation were confidential matters.

The propriety of JIT’s conduct and whether it has had due regard for the dignity of those being probed has been hotly debated in the fortnight since the prime minister’s eldest son filed an application against two members of the JIT.

The Supreme Court had found the application to have been unsubstantiated and filed prematurely “at least at this stage when nothing significant in terms of the collection of evidence has been done so far”.

In its order of May 29 disposing of the application filed on behalf of Hussain Nawaz Sharif, the Supreme Court had ordered: “We direct JIT to proceed with the matter strictly in accordance with law by paying due regard to human dignity. This, we think, is sufficient to cover all concerns of the applicant.”

In his complaint, addressed to the registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the serving NBP president raised concerns similar to those raised earlier by the Prime Minister’s cousin Mian Tariq Shafi.

The NBP president has stated how he was summoned at the last moment, and then treated as if he was being punished “as a condemned person”.

He has also complained about being made to wait before he appeared for his session with the JIT.

“I was at the Judicial Academy for 12 hours. The long wait during appearances, particularly the first five-hour wait, was very unnerving,” he complained.

Tariq Shafi was the first among the parties being interrogated to have filed a complaint against some members of the team, who allegedly misbehaved with him during questioning. A copy of the complaint was reportedly sent to the registrar of the Supreme Court for the perusal of the Implementation Bench.

It is pertinent to mention here that the NBP president has been summoned by the JIT due to his involvement in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case. The JIT is examining the case as part of its probe into the Sharif family’s business dealings abroad.

His name had come into the limelight when, after the Musharraf coup in 1998, current Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had declared him a “close friend”. Dar had also claimed that Ahmed’s accounts had been used to ‘handle’ the Sharif family’s finances.

Dar, in his confession in the Hudaibiya case, had said: “The previously opened foreign currency accounts of Saeed Ahmed, one of the former directors of FHMC and a close friend of mine, and of Mussa Ghani, the nephew of my wife, were also used to deposit huge foreign currency funds provided by the Sharif family to offer them as collateral to obtain different and indirect credit lines.”

Later on, the current finance minister disowned his confessions, saying his statement was taken under duress.

Presently, Ahmed is serving as the president and CEO of the state-run NBP; he was appointed after the Ministry of Finance recommended his name, along with two others, for the post.

Moreover, he has had senior positions in various institutions, including the State Bank of Pakistan, where he last worked as a deputy governor.

JIT DELIBERATES ON PM’S SONS’ STATEMENTS:

Meanwhile, the JIT held its 33rd session with the Federal Investigation Authority’s Additional Director General Wajid Zia in the chair to deliberate on the statements provided by the prime minister’s sons Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz.

Reportedly, the meeting also discussed the threats being received by the JIT members. Sources told that Wajid Zia would comprehensively tell the top court about security concerns, criticism on members, foreign pressure and other issues of JIT in holding the investigation.

The JIT on Wednesday told the SC that it was facing a number of obstructions in its probe into allegations of money-laundering and financial irregularities by the Sharif family. The bench asked Zia to submit an application to the court in this regard. These apprehensions will be taken up in the open court on Monday.