Panama Papers case: Pakistan probe panel submits final report

A joint investigation team probing the Panamagate graft case against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family submitted its final report to the Supreme Court on Monday.

JIT chief Wajid Zia presented the report along with evidence to a three-member special bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The report’s contents are not yet known, but the apex court has ordered that its copies should be provided to the parties to the case, including Sharif family.

However, JIT chief Zia asked the court that the 10th volume of the report should not be made public as it consists of correspondence with a “foreign government”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party leader Imran Khan’s lawyer Fawad Chaudhry told media that the report consists of 10 volumes and nine volumes of it would be made public.

The bench adjourned the hearing till Monday.

Members of the JIT arrived at the apex court amid tight security provided by the Islamabad Capital Territory Police and large cardboard boxes labelled ‘Evidence’ were carted into the court.

Besides other evidence, the report consists of the statements of Prime Minister Sharif, his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif; his children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Sharif and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar.

The six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was set up in May by the Supreme Court with the mandate to probe the Sharif family for allegedly failing to provide the trail of money used to buy properties in London in 1990s.

The JIT has also probed several of serving and former officials in connection with the case.

The six-member JIT included Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Additional Director General Wajid Zia, Military Intelligence’s Brig Kamran Khurshid, National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Director Irfan Naeem Mangi, State Bank of Pakistan’s Amer Aziz, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan?s (SECP) Executive Director Bilal Rasool and Inter-Services Intelligences Brig Muhammad Nauman Saeed.

Last year, the Panama Papers revealed that three of Prime Minister Sharif’s children owned offshore companies and assets not shown on his family’s wealth statement. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London.

The top court took up the case in October last year on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Awami Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami and reserved the verdict in February after conducting hearings on a daily basis.