Avenfield flats: Proceedings enter last phase

ISLAMABAD: Accountability Court (AC) here on Wednesday handed over questionnaires to the legal counsels for Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Muhammad Safdar asking the accused to submit replies to the queries raised by the court.

Questionnaires in Avenfiled apartment’s corruption reference were kept secret and not shared with media. AC would record statements of the accused on Friday, May 18.

The court has handed over 127 questions to the three accused.

Questions include: “Do you have any defense regarding the documents produced against you by 19 prosecution witnesses? Do you have anything to respond regarding the allegations levelled against you in JIT report? What will be your defense to the allegations that your assets are disproportionate to your known sources of income and that you accumulated those assets while holding different public offices like chief minister and prime minister of the country?”

From Maryam Nawaz the AC has inquired that as per allegations, she produced fake documents before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and JIT. The AC has also inquired the three accused about their point of view regarding the Robert Radley’s statement.

About Gulf Steel Mill, the AC has inquired that as per Wajid Zia statement, the share-sale agreement of April 14, 1980, is nonexistent. And what do you have to say regarding the statement of Wajid Zia that Qatari letter is a myth? Beside this court has also inquired the three accused about their exact dates of birth. About Avenfield apartments, the AC has inquired Nawaz Sharif if he is the Benami owner of Nescoll and Neilsen, the two off-shore companies that owns the flats?

Meanwhile Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head Wajid Zia here on Wednesday admitted before the AC that whatever money Nawaz Sharif received from either Hill Metal Establishment (HME) Jeddah or Hussain Nawaz, those were mentioned in his income tax and wealth tax returns. He, however, added that there are anomalies in his wealth tax returns may be due to financial years.

This he said while responding to the questions of Nawaz Sharif’s legal counsel, Khawaja Haris Ahmad advocate during cross-examination in Al-Alzizia Steel Company/ HME corruption reference.

Zia also admitted that the JIT did not attached full banking record with its report although it obtained the full record of all transactions from private banks. Haris then posed questions at him regarding an inflow chart of the HME prepared by the JIT where all the money transactions from the HME and Hussain Nawaz were mentioned.