Avenfield case: Maryam’s counsel concludes NAB official’s cross-examination

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday resumed hearing three corruption references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.

During the hearing presided by Judge Mohammad Bashir, Maryam’s counsel Amjad Pervez conducted cross-examination of prosecution witness Zahir Shah.

Shah, who is NAB’s DG Operations, said he acquired a copy of Volume X of the JIT report through a letter of the Supreme Court (SC) registrar.

However, he said that the contents of the volume were not shared by him with anyone but the investigation officer.

During the course of hearing, Amjad objected to the prosecutor’s reported interference in the cross-examination.

At the last hearing on Monday, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris conducted the witness’ cross-examination, who told the court that he had received new documents in relation to the London flats through a Pakistan High Commission representative in the United Kingdom, Usman Ahmed.

On Friday, Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi told the court that National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) international cooperation wing has obtained additional documents related to the Avenfield and Flagship investment cases showing the registry record of the London flats, utility bills and council tax.

The prosecutor also told the court that the documents were received in response to the Panama case JIT’s letter and that NAB also received a response from the UK central authority.

He also claimed that the suspects attempted to conceal these documents.

In his arguments, Maryam’s counsel Amjad Pervez said that the witnesses in the case have already been cross-examined with regards to the registry record.

The NAB investigation officer and the DG operations will be the last two persons to record their statements regarding the case.

According to the documents acquired by Shah, the Sharif family’s London apartments were transferred to the possession of offshore companies Nielson and Nescoll in 1993-1995, and not in 2005-2006.

Nawaz Sharif, in his previous statements, has said that the Avenfield properties were transferred in the name of the companies in 2005-2006 and that they belonged to his children. Nawaz’s children Hussain and Hasan were young in 1993-95 and did not have any source of income. Therefore, they cannot be considered owners of the properties and thus the former premier was their real owner, the documents state.

The Avenfield properties reference is among three cases filed against Nawaz and his family by NAB in 2017 on the Supreme Court’s directives.