Avenfield reference: Nawaz’s counsel cross-examines Panama JIT head Wajid Zia

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Wednesday resumed hearing into Avenfield reference against ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, allowing the ex-PM’s counsel to cross-examine Wajid Zia, who headed the Panama Papers investigation team.

The court on March 27 had recorded statement of Mr. Zia in the Avenfield reference against Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Safdar.

Pakistan’s Panamagate: How it all unfolded

In today’s hearing, Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Harris cross-examined Zia and questioned him about evidence proving Nawaz Sharif as beneficial owner of Avenfiled. In response, Zia said his team also didn’t have any such document.

He further asked Zia whether Panama’s Mossack Fonseca law firm provided any evidence indicating that Nawaz was the beneficial owner of Avenfield. The JIT head replied in negative.

He underlined that his team reached the conclusion in Avenfield reference after examining two letters and laws of the United Kingdom.

Zia had placed on the record three letters in connection with Mutual Legal Assistance  for a probe into the offences allegedly committed by the Sharif family’s offshore companies and Qatari Prince Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani’s letter to the Supreme Court. Amjad Pervaiz, representing Maryam and Safdar, objected to submission of the letters, asking why were they not submitted to the court before.

The court, however, allowed the star witness to furnish these letters and made them part of the proceedings.

In his statement, Zia told the court that the Sharif family submitted forged trust deeds with regard to the ownership of the flats to mislead the Supreme Court and JIT.

The former premier and his daughter filed the application requesting the accountability judge to grant them exemption from personal appearance for seven days starting from March 26 so that they could travel to London to see his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, who is battling cancer.

How the Panama Papers case unraveled?

The Panama Papers scandal unraveled to the world with shock and Pakistan was no exception especially when its ruling elite were discovered to have stashed their wealth offshore.

The leaked papers, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposed how some of the world’s most powerful people have secreted their money offshore, and also implicated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s sons Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz.

The revelations in a report released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) dropped like a bombshell on the government on April 4, 2016, prompting countrywide debate whether Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should stay in office after startling disclosures concerning stashed wealth of his family. Eventually, the Panama Case triggered ouster of sitting PM Nawaz Sharif after the joint investigation team blamed the ex-PM and his family of concealing assets beyond known sources of income.