Avenfield reference: Nawaz made benami property in London, says IO

ISLAMABAD: The last prosecution witness in the Avenfield Apartments corruption reference, the investigation officer (IO) of the case, Imran Dogar, here on Wednesday said that Nawaz Sharif, while holding public office, purchased benami property in London. He said that the trust deed of Maryam Nawaz was fake.

He admitted before the accountability court (AC) that neither the Supreme Court (SC) nor the executive board meeting of NAB had decided and directed for a fresh investigation into the said corruption reference.

The SC, on the other hand, had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to prepare and file a reference on the basis of material collected by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), NAB IO said while responding to the questions posed to him by Nawaz Sharif's counsel Khawaja Haris during cross-examination.

He also admitted that the NAB chairman did not authorise a fresh investigation into the London Avenfield Apartments corruption reference. NAB, in its executive board meeting dated July 31, 2017, delegated its powers to its Director General (DG), Lahore, for filing the reference, Imran Dogar said.

He further said that NAB had no other option but to comply with the SC judgment for filing of references within six weeks and therefore in order to put things in a right way, he had to conduct the investigation. The DG Lahore NAB had authorised him for the investigation under Section 18-C of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999. It may be mentioned here that Imran Dogar is the last prosecution witness in the Avenfield Apartments corruption reference.

Earlier, when the court resumed hearing, it was informed that Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz could not appear before the court as their flight from Lahore to Islamabad was cancelled due to bad weather. The AC granted an exemption to both the father and daughter.

During cross-examination of Dogar, he complained that he is feeling pain of sciatica and the AC then gave him a break but the hearing was later adjourned till today on Thursday. In Wednesday’s proceedings, there was frequent loadshedding in the courtroom.

Earlier, IO Dogar concluded recording of his statement. In his statement, Dogar said that during his investigation and on the basis of documents he collected, NAB concluded that the London apartments were benami properties of Nawaz Sharif and he failed to provide any money trail for the acquisition of these flats.

Dogar said that the trust deed produced by Maryam Nawaz regarding the ownership of Nielsen and Nescoll offshore companies was fake. Forensic expert Robert William Radley had endorsed that the trust deed was scripted in Calibri in February 2006 when it was not commercially available. It is to recall here that Radley during his cross-examination had admitted before the AC that Calibri was available in 2005 and anyone could use it after downloading it.

At the start of the proceedings, Dogar narrated how he collected documents from the Supreme Court, how many witnesses appeared before him and submitted the record and how he recorded their statements under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). NAB Director General Operations, Zahir Shah, handed over to him response from the United Kingdom Central Authority that he received in response to the requests for the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) initiated by the JIT.

Dogar said that he also collected material from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and also obtained transcripts of interviews and copy of speeches delivered by the members of Sharif family on different television channels.

During the investigation, he summoned the accused persons Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar but they did not appear. On behalf of Nawaz Sharif, his counsel Naseer Bhutta and for Maryam Nawaz, her counsel Amjad Pervez, advocate, submitted their replies, he said.

Further hearing will be today on Thursday.