NCA probed Shehbaz for Swiss offshore accounts

LONDON: The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) investigated Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Sharif for holding assets through offshore accounts and made inquiries in several offshore jurisdictions to determine if Zulfikar Ahmed was holdings Sharifs’ money in offshore accounts through complex offshore structures, according to court papers released by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

The NCA’s investigation looked into detail about Shehbaz Sharif’s assets and his dealings with Aneel Musarrat as well as financial dealings of Suleman and Shehbaz with Zulfikar Ahmed, a UK based wealthy British Pakistani businessman who owns several businesses and transferred a total of £204,940.50 to Suleman’s accounts between April and November 2019.

The NCA wrote to Swiss authorities seeking confirmation if anyone named “Sharif” was the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) of the offshore companies owned by Zulfikar Ahmed. The investigation was conducted in Switzerland, Italy, America, Dubai and accounts of Zulfikar Ahmed were checked in every jurisdiction with some link, direct or indirect.

“The beneficiaries of the family trust do not include anyone with the family name of surname Sharif,” said a reply to the NCA from the offshore company Makini Enterprises with banking facilities based in Switzerland, court papers revealed.

The NCA wrote to the legal authorities in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines where Makini Enterprises S.A. is incorporated and it’s the same company that made a loan payment of £300,000 to Zulfikar Ahmed for litigation purposes for Shehbaz Sharif’s Daily Mail case. A few months after transferring the money, on 3 September 2019 Zulfikar Ahmed asked Carter Ruck to return £220000 after settling their outstanding account.

On 22nd June 2020, the NCA wrote to the US authorities seeking information about Makini Enterprises and its links with Vista Global Advisors, Briarcliff Limited and who was its Ultimate Beneficial Owner.

The NCA investigated whether anyone from the Sharif family had beneficial interest in it and what was Briarcliff’s relation with Makini. It also asked Zulfi to explain the reasons why had made thirteen transfers to Suleman and what was the origin of these funds.

The NCA asked Zulfi why he requested £220,000 from Carter Ruck to be transferred to the HSBC account of Suleman Sharif in September 2019, a request that was subsequently cancelled.

It asked Zulfi to explain why £220,000.00 of these loan funds was requested by him to be transferred to a Swiss bank account held by Briarcliff Limited in November 2019. The St Vincent authorities replied to the NCA about the loan agreements between Makini and Briarcliff Limited. They said that Makini made a loan to Zulfi in July 2019 for £300K and that both Makini and Briarcliff were a privately owned investment company wholly owned by the same family trust which was set up a person who would not be considered to be a PEP at the time the trust was set up in 2010. It said: “The beneficiaries of the family trust do not include anyone with the family name of surname Sharif.”