NAB team in London to probe Sharif family assets

LONDON: A three-member National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team under NAB Director General (Operations) Zahir Shah arrived in the United Kingdom today to probe the alleged ownership of offshore companies, including Flagship Investment Ltd, by the family of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Director Rizwan Ahmed and Investigation Officer Muhammad Kamran are accompanying the DG Operations.

According to NAB official, the three-member team is scheduled to meet the authorities of National Crime Agency, Land Registry Department and Company Home audit firm.
Earlier, another NAB team had visited UK for its investigation in relation to the Avenfield apartments case against the ousted prime minister.
Speaking to media at the Heathrow airport prior to returning to Pakistan, NAB’s Deputy Director Sultan Nazeer, case officer in the Avenfield Reference, and Imran Dogar, the investigation officer, had claimed that they have “fulfilled the task they were assigned” by their superiors.
A close friend familiar with the NAB probe said that the meetings did take place but nothing new came to light and “there has been no breakthrough” that could help NAB further than what it already has – publicly available details of Hasan and Hussain, Nawaz’s sons.
The NAB has filed four corruption references against the Sharif family and former finance minister Ishaq Dar in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.