Top NAB official not in London to probe Sharifs

LONDON: The Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Waqas Qadeer Dar has termed ‘ridiculous’ and ‘frivolous’ media reports that he is in London to investigate or collect evidence in relation to the NAB references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children involving four Avenfield flats.

Media reports said on Wednesday that Waqas Dar, who reached London aboard the Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-785 on Wednesday afternoon, to record statements of important witnesses and collect evidence of properties belonging to ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's family, but in exclusive interview with The News the NAB Prosecutor General expressed his dismay at the ‘fabricated and irresponsible reporting’.

He told this scribe that he was in London in official capacity but to deal with an “altogether different official matter which has nothing to do with the NAB cases against Nawaz Sharif and his children”.

“It’s wholly incorrect to say that I am part of the NAB team that’s in London to investigate the matters related to references against Nawaz Sharif, Hassan, Hussain, Maryam and Captain Safdar. The reporters didn’t do their job honestly and just made news out of nothing. I am NAB’s prosecutor general and not an investigator. My job brief relates to prosecution, not investigation,” he said.

Waqas Dar said that he would send legal notice to the media houses which ran a baseless news about him to create sensation. “This is unfortunate when reporters don’t do their homework properly and run baseless news and create false impressions and ruin reputations,” he said.

It’s understood that the NAB has written letters to the UK authorities for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) seeking details of the Sharif family's Avenfield flats 16, 16-A, 17, 17-A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, but the UK government has not responded to Pakistan.

The News had reported that Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, who left his charge a few days back on the completion of his tenure as NAB chairman, had approved the constitution of the team to investigate cases against Nawaz Sharif family and their properties. The team has applied for visas and after approval it will leave for London to record the statements of Hussain Nawaz Sharif and Hassan Nawaz Sharif.

NAB sources told The News today that the three members, who have applied for visa, have yet not been issued visas. The decision on whether or not the team will visit London will be taken when visas are obtained.