JIT summons Hudaibya Paper Mills scam record

ISLAMABAD: A joint investigation team (JIT) tasked with probing the financial interests of the Sharif family in line with the April 20 Supreme Court verdict in the Panamagate case has summoned complete record of the 17-year-old Hudaibya Paper Mills scam from the National Accountability Bureau.

Sources in NAB told The Express Tribune that the six-member JIT has asked the bureau to provide complete record of the Hudaibya Paper Mills case. Legal experts believe examining the record could prove to be damaging for the ruling family.

The top court in its April 20 verdict on the Panamagate, observed that the JIT may examine evidence and material, if any, already available with the FIA and NAB relating to or having any nexus with the possession or acquisition of the London flats or any other assets or pecuniary resources and their origin.

Seventeen years ago, NAB had claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family received over Rs1 billion “through illegal and fraudulent means” and that they were liable to be tried under anti-corruption laws, reveal documents submitted by the accountability watchdog before the Supreme Court on Monday.

The 2000 NAB proceedings came to the fore when the bureau’s prosecutor general, Waqas Qadeer Dar, submitted two references — related to the Hudaibya Paper Mills scam and ‘illegal’ construction of the Sharif family’s Raiwind estate — before the apex court.

In 2014, the Lahore High Court quashed the Hudaibya Paper Mills reference against the Sharif family and NAB did not challenge the LHC decision in the Supreme Court.

According to the NAB documents – a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, father Mian Muhammad Sharif, brothers Shehbaz Sharif and Abbas Sharif, Abbas’ wife Sabiha, Nawaz’s son Hussain and Shahbaz’s son Hamza, had been accused of receiving ‘ill-gotten money’ in the case.

“All accused persons in collusion and with the connivance of each other appear to have committed acts of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under Section 9 read with Section 10 of the NAB Ordinance,” NAB’s former chairman Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool had told an accountability court.

It is interesting to note that NAB had filed two references in the Hudaibya Paper Mills case. Incumbent Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was nominated as an accused in the initial reference. But NAB in its final reference excluded his name after he recorded a confessional statement.

“There was an unexplained investment of Rs642.743 million appearing in books of the mill as share deposit money. The same belonged to the directors/shareholders and beneficial owners of the company, which they had fraudulently amassed under the garb of foreign equity investment,” said the final reference.

It said the company in 1999 settled its loan with the London-based Al Towfeek Company for Investment Funds by making a payment of $8.7 million and the source of this payment also appeared to be doubtful.

“It appears from the evidence that in order to launder and conceal their ill-gotten wealth, both the Sharif brothers appeared to have fraudulently opened fictitious foreign currency accounts in the names of various individuals with the active connivance of some of their close associates and employees.

“The amounts that have been deposited in the said accounts stand unexplained and appear to be beyond the known source of income of the accused individuals,” it said.

NAB in its final reference submitted that fraudulent accounts and deposits were used by the accused persons as collateral to obtain loans from various financial institutions.

Same deposits were released, encashed and proceeds were used to adjust the financial facilities availed by various companies owned by the accused persons.

NAB had also submitted documents of another reference before the Supreme Court about alleged illegal construction of the Raiwind estate, wherein the prime minister and his parents had been nominated as accused.

The reference stated that the Federal Investigation Agency had probed the illegal construction of houses at Raiwind and it was found that an area measuring 401 kanals was illegally acquired by the prime minister and his mother. This land had been used for the construction of palatial mansions and other ancillary buildings.

The total income of the accused persons (Sharif family) during 1992-2000 if added appeared to be Rs41.190 million but the total investment made by the accused persons for the construction of the buildings amounted to an estimated Rs247.357million.

The scam came to the limelight last month when the five-judge bench -– headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa -– took up the PTI’s plea seeking disqualification of Finance Minister Dar on charges of allegedly facilitating the Sharif family in laundering Rs1.2 billion.

Source: The Express Tribunw