More details of Nawaz Sharif’s bank accounts submitted in anti-graft court

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ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing corruption references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday was provided with foreign bank accounts’ details and transactions of the former premier and his son Hussain Nawaz.

Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir conducted the proceedings of the Al Azizia Steel Mills reference, wherein National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) witness, Tayyab Ahmed, recorded his statement.

Tayyab also provided the court with a 900-page foreign bank account details and transactions of the former premier and his son Hussain Nawaz.

The witness told the court that Nawaz Sharif did four transactions on March 11, 2017, while he also deposited $1 million in Pakistan currency in his account on the same date. On February 7, 2017, Sharif withdrew $2200 from his account, he continued.

The witness said that the PML-N leader transferred $600,000 to his Pakistani currency account between March 2017 to May 2017.

Tayyab also provided details of Nawaz and his sons’ accounts in euro and pound currencies. He said that Hussain had transferred £25,000 to Nawaz’s account in December 2010. In 2015, Tayyab said that Nawaz had transferred £25,000 to his Pakistani currency account. He further told the court that Nawaz had transferred £10 to his Pakistani currency account twice in 2016, at which Zaafir Khan raised an objection over the documents presented in court.

“You have an objection over a cheque of £10 as well?” Judge Bashir quipped, causing the court to chuckle.

Continuing with his statement about the Sharifs’ accounts in Euro, Tayyab told the court that Hussain had transferred €1.1 million to Nawaz’s account in 2010 and €40,000 in 2012.

Nawaz issued five cheques, a total of €900,000, and transferred the amount to his Pakistani currency account on September 23, 2010. He added that the ousted premier withdrew €10 on April 30, 2010, at which the judge joked that Zaafir Khan must have received that cheque.

In April 2012, Nawaz transferred €210,000 to his Pakistani currency account and €190,000 in November 2015.

The court also heard NAB’s plea to include documents provided by Noreen Shahzad, who replaced Tayyab as branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank, in the witness record. Hamid objected to the request, saying that since Shahzad’s name is not on the witness list, documents provided by her cannot be counted as evidence.

“In what capacity has Noreen Shahzad submitted documents to the court?” Hamid asked, adding that Shahzad was not able to present an authority letter from her employer. She also said that the defence team was not informed of Shahzad’s involvement in the case.

Hamid requested the court to delay the next hearing until it takes a decision regarding Shahzad’s inclusion in the case, which was accepted. Hamid’s objection will be debated in court on Thursday. Once the court reaches a decision on the matter, it will resume the recording of Tayyab’s statement.

The hearing was adjourned until Thursday, when Tayyab, for the fourth day, will continue recording his statement.

Nawaz was represented by his pleader (legal representative) Zaafir Khan Tareen while Maryam by Jahangir Jadoon as both are in London attending to ailing Kulsoom Nawaz.