Nawaz Sharif’s properties be investigated by Transparency International
LONDON, July 07: Transparency International seems to have serious concerns over properties held by Nawaz Sharif, in London. The Global anti-corruption body has reportedly requested the British government for an official probe into four numbers known estates the Sharif family holds out there in London.
Nawaz Sharif was in London with Maryam Nawaz on Friday, when he was sentenced to 11 years in jail in absentia. Not only that, the former prime minister of Pakistan was also slapped with a huge £8 million fine, related to the Avenfield properties reference while his daughter was also fined £2 million and 8 years in prison, in the same reference.
Transparency International, we all know combats all kinds of corruption around the world while the same organization is responsible for taking actions to prevent related criminal activities. On Saturday, the NGO (non-governmental organization) conveyed through a statement that the time has come; for an official probe be launched into above mentioned four properties the Sharif family holds.
According to the official statement, the NGO is all set to not only to request the Theresa May-led UK government to look into these estates held by Sharif, but it has also demanded that the Sharifs should NOT be allowed by the British government; to take refuge in England. Transparency International has further demanded proceedings to look for and seize any properties found, obtained using corruption-related funds.
It was in the year 2017, when the Panama Papers case garnered both local and international attention and in the light of Pakistan’s Supreme Court’s verdict against the former premier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed Avenfield and two other references. Avenfield reference particularly pertained to his (and his family’s) ownership of Avenfield House apartments, London.
The verdict against Maryam and her husband Safdar means the couple has been barred from contesting in the upcoming general election scheduled on July 25. Maryam and Safdar were to contest from Lahore and Mansehra, respectively. Maryam’s brothers Hassan and Hussain meanwhile, have also been declared as a pair of “proclaimed offenders” by the court over their constant absconding in the case.
The trouble of Sharif family doesn’t end here as the Avenfield apartments, under the court’s ruling, shall also be seized, which have been in the family’s possession since 1993!
