LONDON – A team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reached London on Tuesday night to meet the Home Office officials in a bid to gather more evidence regarding the upscale Avenfield flats owned by Hasan and Hussain Nawaz Sharif.
According to highly placed sources, Sultan Nazir and Imran Dogar will be investigating the Avenfield apartments that became the centre of Panama Papers controversy that led to the ouster of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister.
The sources further revealed that NAB team has not yet contacted Hasan and Hussain Nawaz for interviews and the visit came after the UK authorities allowed investigators to record statement of key witnesses in Avenfield Properties corruption case.
Deputy Director Sultan Nazeer, who is the case officer in Avenfield Reference, and Imran Dogar who is investigation officer in the said reference, will also meet officials of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Home Office and other officials concerned in London, added the officials.
According to an official at NAB Bureau Lahore, the visiting team will record statement of two key witnesses related to the Sharif family’s Avenfield flats 16, 16-A, 17, 17-A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, revealed an
The investigators are expected to record statement of Mr Ashley who is associated with the legal wing of CPS.
“He [Mr Ashley] is the man who acquired Sharifs’ property record in the UK,” claimed one of NAB officials in Lahore.
The team is expected to meet officials of Pakistan Embassy in the UK who will facilitate both the NAB officials, The News reported.
Earlier, the six-member joint investigation team formulated by the top court hired two lawyers in London – Akhtar Raja and Toby Cadman – who had written several letters to the Home Office seeking Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) in relation to British national Hasan Nawaz Sharif and Hussain Nawaz Sharif, who are believed to own the posh apartments.
The JIT’s lawyers had filed these requests through a formal international Letter of Request (LOR) and according to media reports, the UK govt had agreed to provide MLA to the NAB in relation to Hussain Nawaz Sharif and that the National Crime Agency (NCA) also agreed to provide assistance.
It’s understood that at least five banks, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Home Office had told Pakistani authorities during the JIT probe that it had no concern in relation to the ‘transparent’ business matters of Hasan and Nawaz Sharif
The JIT’s lawyers were told by the Home Office that they needed to file the MLA requests correctly which were filed after the disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on July 28th.
It’s understood that Pakistan has written to the Home Office again to obtain assistance in the investigation currently underway in Pakistan.
The Islamabad NAB Court No-I in Islamabad is hearing the said reference against Sharifs’ family.
The NAB has filed four corruption references against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar related to their Avenfield properties, multiple companies that include Flagship Investments, Hartstone properties, Que Holdings, Quaint, Flagship Securities, Quint Gloucester Place, Quint Paddington, Flagship Developments, Alanna Services (BVI), Quint Eaton Place 2, Quint Saloane, Lankin SA (BVI), Chadron, Ansbacher, Coomber and Capital FZE, Dubai, Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals.
