Hassan Nawaz owns 17 properties, NAB court told

ISLAMABAD -The last prosecution witness and investigation officer in the Flagship reference has revealed that Hassan Nawaz was the owner of 17 flats and properties in the name of his 18 companies.

Testifying before the accountability court on Wednesday, Investigation Officer Mohammad Kamran also submitted some relevant documents with defence counsel Zubair Khalid raising objections to the submission of the documents saying, they were not admissible under the law of evidence.

The witness testified before the court that he visited the United Kingdom to pursue the requests forwarded by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Joint Inves­tigation Team (JIT) for mutual legal assistance and an application was submitted to the Companies House to obtain addresses of the companies owned by Mr Hassan.

The official highlighted that Pakistan High Com­mission in the UK provided them with some important documents related to the business of Mr Hassan.

'In 2001, the total value of the former prime minister’s assets was Rs12.76 million and that of Hussain Nawaz’s assets was Rs33.8 million, while the total value of assets of Mr Hassan was Rs4.36 million,' he revealed before the judge Arshad Malik.

The accountability court adjourned the proceedings as Mr Kamran is yet to conclude his statement. The court after recording his complete testimony would record the statement of the former prime minister in Flagship and Al-Azizia references.

The accountability court is required to conclude the proceedings in both Flagship and Al-Azizia references by Nov 17 as per the final deadline granted by the apex court.

As many as three references have been filed against the former premier in line with the directives of the supreme court in the Panama Papers case verdict.

The elder Sharif was sentenced to ten years in prison by the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, in the Avenfield reference, however, the conviction was suspended by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court.

Besides Flagship reference, another reference regarding the Al-Azizia steel mills has also been filed by the accountability watchdog against the members of the former ruling family including Nawaz Sharif.