Saudi document raises questions on JIT findings

ISLAMABAD: A Saudi Customs document duly verified by it shows receiving all the trucks of machinery from the UAE in the dates of September to December 2001 as stated by the Sharif family in its response before the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case.

The Saudi official document has raised serious questions on the veracity of UAE letter that denied any such movement of trucks, and also gave answers to some wrongly and cleverly asked questions. The official letter of Saudi Customs showing some 28 entries verify the movement of the trucks carrying machinery from the UAE to Saudi Arabia. All the answers in the UAE letter in response to JIT questions were dubious and were not making a categorical statement whereas the letter from Saudi Arabia categorically confirms movement of trucks. 

As the clever guys in the JIT never asked details on this count, so effort was made at that time to furnish the record as it was not required by any forum.

Though the Panama JITconclusive evidence regarding any allegation but this latest development has added another point to the already two categorical false conclusions made by the JIT.

In order to prove that Sharif family owned London flats right from the 1990s, the JIT has declared in categorical terms that as in Al-Towfeeq loan default case, the London High Court had attached these four Park Lane flats and as the loan was acquired by the Hudaibiya Paper Mills and members of Sharif family - thus all this establishes that flats had been owned by Sharif family since 1990s. 

The Sharif family came up with original documents of loan taken from Al-Towfeeq Investment and proved that London flats were never used as collateral. As millions of dollars came to Pakistan in 1990s, the Sharif family stated, it was mandatory to inform State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and SECP about the source of the loan along with all agreements and details. All details were present with SBP and SECP but the JIT never sought these records despite request from the accused. The documents later obtained by The News prove the very fact that only collateral used for Al-Towfeeq loan was moveable assets of the Hudaibiya Paper Mills, including its plant and machinery. The JIT findings on this count proved absolutely wrong.

Yet another point on which the JIT proved completely wrong was the claim that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is chairman of an offshore company in the UAE and that he hasn’t declared it. Later, it was proved that the said company FZE Capital, completely owned by a member of Sharif family, was not an offshore company and the prime minister was honorary chairman of the company just to avail visa and travel facilitation, and the Iqama obtained from the UAE authorities was properly declared in 2013 general elections nomination forms, the only document where it can be declared. 

The JIT findings on this point also proved absolutely incorrect. On the rest of the allegations, the JIT did come up with more facts but not a single conclusive evidence was produced to prove any specific allegation. Despite the fact that JIT failed to establish any link of the prime minister with money trail of the Sharif family to purchase London flats, it recommended enforcing NAB law against Nawaz Sharif.