Panama papers: Sharifs decide to skip probe

Lahore: Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his two sons on Friday failed to appear before the top anti-graft body, which wanted to interrogate them over money laundering and corruption charges revealed by the Panama Papers.

On July 28, a five-member Supreme Court bench disqualified Sharif from continuing in his office for possessing a work permit at the firm of his son in the UAE.

The court also ordered the NAB to investigate money laundering and other corruption charges against Sharif, his children, son-in-law Safdar and federal finance minister Ishaq Dar, a relative of Sharif, in light of the report of the Joint Investigation Team.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) following a Supreme Court order had issued summons to Sharif and his sons — Hussain and Hasan — to interrogate them at its Lahore office over their offshore properties revealed last year by the Panama Papers leak.

A 10-member NAB team had reached Lahore from Rawalpindi to record the statements of the Sharifs, but they did not turn up before the office closed at 3 pm local time, a NAB official said.

“Sharif and his sons were supposed to join the investigation today here in Lahore office, but we are informed by the office of Sharif that he is not coming. No reason was given,” the official said. He said the NAB would issue second summons to them in two weeks. A leader close to the Sharif family denied receiving any summons. “Sharif and his sons had not yet received the NAB summons. Sharif will only decide whether or not to appear before the NAB after receiving the summons,” Senator Pervaiz Rashid said.

However, another PML-N party leader said Sharif has decided not to join the investigation. He said Sharif will join the probe only after the SC decides his review petition against the court’s verdict that disqualified him.

One of the three applications Sharif filed in the Supreme Court calls for staying “further implementation of the judgement till a decision on the review petition is taken”.

The apex court is likely to take up Sharif's review petition early next month after judges return from vacation.

Sharif has expressed serious concerns on the NAB investigation, saying it was unprecedented for a SC judge to supervise NAB proceedings against him and his family members to get a “desired result”.