A Sharif family representative said that Hassan Nawaz gave JIT HMRC reported accounts of all his UK companies. Hassan told them he has no offshore companies. Hassan provided them with all the bank loan agreements which funded his property transactions and trading. He gave them details of British law firms which had client accounts funded by family sources i.e. by his late grandfather which may have been through his business dealings and relationships with Qataris or other business sources (which Hassan had no reason to question).
Later, his brother Hussain Nawaz facilitated funding by allowing him to use funds loaned by Deutsche Bank, against collateral of Nescoll & Nielsen, once they came into the ownership of Hussain. Even those loans were paid back by Hassan in full in 2014/15. “All this is pretty normal in every business household,” Sharif family representative said and questioned: “Where is something illegal or any instance of corruption of public funds?
He said that Hassan Nawaz provided a lot of evidence to the JIT which is very conveniently either missing in the final JIT report or not have been commented upon. The list of Hassan Nawaz’s banking relationships which appeared in the JIT report should have said these accounts were not used for cash deposits (which JIT was looking for) but those banks provided Hassan with heavy and aggressive lending for real estate deals he did and paid taxes on. Furthermore the list of banks is not accurate. The JIT hasn’t even mention the names of the banks correctly let alone the nature of his relationship with them.
The representative said that Tariq Shafi was subjected to torturous treatment by the JIT. “He was kept at the premises for lengthy hours, slandered, insulted, shouted at and threatened of heinous consequences, including imprisonment. He was also asked to withdraw his affidavit. This was brought to the Supreme Court's notice by a statement by his lawyer. The truth of the matter is that his lawyers did not dream of the facts but were only acting on his instructions while drafting the affidavits. It is immaterial if he looked at the affidavits cursorily or otherwise. He owns those affidavits and sticks to them. In fact there is a lot of explanation required from the JIT for their illegal measures relating to his case, Sharif family representative said, adding: “The Supreme Court of Pakistan must ensure that justice is not only done but is also seen to be done.”
He stated that there are factual inaccuracies in the JIT's account and at numerous places the report is not providing the truth. This is not an unbiased investigation. “The comments made and language used for members of the family sufficiently reveals it. When a number of people provide multiple accounts for multiple events which are age old, there are bound to be discrepancies. This is more so the case when the purpose is to pick holes and not determine the truth, the representative said, adding “There are no reasons behind holding multiple lengthy interrogation sessions other than the effort to raise controversies.”
Sharif family rep questioned: “Be as it may, the litmus test is whether there is anything incriminating. If it were so then why do they have to resort to the age old methods i.e. approvers, benamidars and dependents? Why instead of providing concrete evidence doubts are being raised?”
He added: “Finally, why are source documents which will be thrown out of the window by any court in the world made part of this report and used for the character assassination of the prime minister and other respondents. Is it not a deja vu?”
He said that Mian Nawaz Sharif did not show his ignorance about the deed but said he doesn't know all the details but declares that statements made by Hussain and Maryam regarding the trust deed are correct.
He explained that Capt Safdar is right in saying he doesn't know the details because it wasn't his business anyway. How is he expected to know details of assets, properties or business that is owned by his in-laws?
The Sharif family rep said that Maryam Nawaz denied having any knowledge about her brother sharing her info with Minerva because once she entered into a trust agreement with him, even before it materialised, she had given him her general approval and never asked about details of what he further needed to do to fulfil legal requirements. He (Hussain) had her general permission and because they had a close relationship and trusted each other, she never felt the need to interfere in his day-to-day handling of matters. This is pretty normal.
The representative said: “Mossack Fonseca did not have the name Maryam with them. Mossack had to ask the service provider Minerva Services for the name of beneficial owner on record.”
He said that as Maryam Nawaz was the trustee, her name was given by Hussain to Minerva, following the trust, for bringing trustee on record and for instructions regarding the companies. Sharif family said that it is clear that Maryam’s name was wrongly transmitted as beneficial owner as the Minerva services was given dire warnings by BVI FIA not to alert anyone. This is why Mossack covered itself by saying it was unaware of any trusts associated with the companies rather than repeating what it received from Minerva.
“What the JTI did now is that they only sent the same letter that appeared in PanamaLeaks for verification once again. They only verified that the letter of 2012 was theirs which it was. JIT didn't ask who the owner was,” Sharif family rep said, adding: “This was cleverness but will be exposed in the court of law.”
He said that there are many contradictions in the latest analysis. “BVI FIA was wrongly asked for as is evident from communications that confirmation of beneficial ownership was never even asked and merely existing of two letters was confirmed. The letters are irrelevant and its verification means nothing,” he said and added: “Had the normal procedure been adopted the trust could have been sought and clearly none of this controversy would have erupted including Calibri.”
The rep said that now the same letter of illegal and faulty evidence from an out of context and unconnected purpose is only being confirmed rather than the actual original ownership information sought.
“Regarding the documents pertaining to the Gulf Steel Mills, all our documents presented to the Supreme Court and JIT were not only signed and stamped by UAE court but the UAE Foreign Ministry and Pak embassy. It is not possible that those records are not found with any of the three entities mentioned,” the Sharif family rep said, adding: “There seems to be a deliberate attempt not to access forums/ departments from where the information could have been retrieved. Only a few misleading questions were asked and desired answers were obtained. They seemed to be completely oblivious to the documents that we presented. Those documents can neither be challenged nor their authenticity can be questioned.”
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