Nawaz and Maryam off to London as witnesses record statements in court

ISLAMABAD: A number of witnesses recorded their statements before an accountability court hearing three corruption references filed against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as the ousted premier and his daughter Maryam Nawaz departed for London in the morning.

Nawaz Sharif was represented by his lawyer Khawaja Harris, while his children were represented by Advocate Amjad Pervez Bhatti.

Malik Tayyab, a prosecution witness associated with the Standard Chartered Bank, recorded his statement against Nawaz, Maryam and son-in-law Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar, in the Flagship Investments and Azizia Steel Mills references. However, due to shortage of time, his statement could not be completed. He has been summoned again on Wednesday.

Tayyab has so far provided details of cheques issued to Maryam and others from the former premier’s bank account. He told the court that on June 13, 2015, a cheque worth Rs12 million was issued to Maryam. Another cheque worth Rs28.8m was issued to her later that year, on Nov 15. On August 14, 2016, Nawaz issued another cheque worth Rs19.5m to his daughter, the witness told the court.

The court then moved on to record statements of NAB Lahore officials Umer Daraz and Mukhtar, who were among those who delivered the NAB summons to Nawaz Sharif and his family members at Jati Umra.

The witnesses told the court that the summons had been delivered to Shamim House, Jati Umra, and were received by security officers Ataullah and Malik Arif.

A witness, Mukhtiar, recorded his statement pertaining to the Avenfield flats reference, and another witness, Adeel Akhtar, was summoned to record his statement in the same reference.

Foreign Office employee Afaq Ahmed was summoned as a witness to record his statement in the next hearing of the Flagship Investments reference.

The Avenfield and Flagship Investments references’ hearings were adjourned until Dec 11.

The former premier’s son-in-law, who was present in court, put forward a request to be exempted from appearing before the court for 15 days. In his absence, Safdar will be represented by Advocate Faisal Irfan.

NAWAZ AND MARYAM OFF TO LONDON:

The ousted prime minister and his daughter departed for London from Lahore airport on Tuesday morning after the former was granted a week-long exemption from appearing in court from Dec 5 to Dec 11 during Monday’s hearing.

On Monday, Maryam had also put forward a request for exemption from appearance before the court but it was rejected. The court had noted that she had already received such an exemption earlier from Nov 15 to Dec 15, which was still intact.

Nawaz will remain in London for five days. His wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, has reportedly been undergoing medical treatment in the British capital for some time now.

A five-member bench of the SC on July 28 had directed NAB to file references against Nawaz and his children in six weeks in the accountability court and directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

NAB had filed three references on Sept 8 against Nawaz and his family, and another reference against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The three references against the Sharif family are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The former premier and his sons, Hassan and Hussain, have been named in all three NAB references, while Maryam and husband Safdar have been named only in the Avenfield reference.