ISLAMABAD: Hassan Nawaz, the younger son of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, appeared before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and faced the probe about his business for seven hours on Friday.
He recorded his statement on offshore properties of the Sharif family with regard to the London Mayfair flats, sources told The News. They said the JIT asked some direct questions from Hassan Nawaz about the ownership and his stay in the London flats and the bank account he maintained during his studies in London.
The workers of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chanted slogans in favour of Hassan Nawaz who arrived at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) at 10am and waved to the supporters while coming out of his car.
The personal staff members of Hassan Nawaz were carrying the files and documents but they were stopped at the gate and not allowed to accompany him into the FJA. "When the JIT summoned Hassan Nawaz, it informed him about its queries and directed to bring the relevant record at the time of his appearance before it. Hassan Nawaz arrived in Pakistan a few days ago soon after receiving summons from the JIT," the sources said.
The sources said the JIT mainly focused on his bank accounts, business details, tax paid by him to the UK government, ownership of offshore companies -- Nielson and Nescoll -- and establishment of Flagship Investment Limited in 2001.
They said Hassan Nawaz was also asked to give his version on such content of the Panama Leaks in which he was allegedly described as 'the sole director of Hangon Property Holdings Limited incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in February 2007, which acquired the Liberia-based firm Cascon Holdings Establishment Limited for about 11.2 million dollars in August 2007.
It is pertinent to mention here that the lawyer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) pointed out before the Supreme Court that Hassan Nawaz, in an interview in 1999, had stated that he was a student with no source of income and that rent of the London flats was coming from Pakistan. On the other hand, Hussain, his brother in an interview in 2016, said that Hassan had been doing business for the last 21 years. It was the first appearance of Hassan Nawaz before the JIT while his elder brother Hussain Nawaz has already appeared thrice in five days -- May 28, May 30 and June 1 -- and presented all the relevant documents and record related to the London flats and offshore companies. Hussain Nawaz will appear before the JIT for the fourth time on June 2 (Saturday).
Headed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director Wajid Zia, the JIT was formed on May 5 by the Supreme Court to investigate the funds used by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's children to buy properties in London through offshore businesses and submit its report within 60 days.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will also appear before the JIT and record his statement regarding his controversial handwritten affidavit, given before a magistrate on April 25, 2000, in which he had alleged that the Sharif brothers used the Hudaibya Paper Mills as cover for money laundering during the late 1990s.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has already stated that the much talked-about 'confessional statement' of Ishaq Dar, submitted to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during the Pervez Musharraf regime, was obtained 'under duress' when he was under detention and that he was a witness to the mental torture Ishaq Dar had been going through at that time.