LONDON: Majority of flats in the Avenfield House on London’s Park Lane are owned by residents– including the family of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif– who bought their properties through offshore companies incorporated in tax havens, according to an investigation by a local English daily.
Four luxury flats in the Avenfield House: 16, 16a, 17 and 17a, are owned by the two offshore companies, Nielsen Enterprises Limited and the Nescoll Limited, linked to the ousted prime minister.
Nescoll Limited bought the first flat, 17 in June 1993, followed by the purchase of flats 16 and 16a which were both bought on July 31, 1995.
The flat 17a was the last to be bought by the Nawaz Sharif family on 23 July 1996.
Another flat 12a is also owned by the Sharif family, but it was not purchased through an offshore company but through the Flagship Investment Limited, a firm registered with Companies House in the United Kingdom with Hasan Nawaz Sharif as one of its directors.
Flats 20 and 21 are owned by the Hung Yip Development Limited, which is an offshore company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands while flat 9 and 10 are owned by the Mellen Management Limited, incorporated in Panama.
However, according to the investigation by the publication, Avenfield House is not the worst example of property holding through offshore companies as the nearby Edgware Road has around 150 properties bought through companies incorporated in tax havens.