NAB to approach SC for verified record of references against Sharifs: sources

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to approach the Supreme Court to seek verified record of references against the Sharif family being heard by accountability courts, sources told Geo News Saturday.

The attested records are being solicited for a reference underway in the accountability court, said sources.

According to the request submitted to the apex court, Wajid Zia is an important witness in all of the three references against the Sharif family.

A supplementary reference has also been prepared by NAB in the Avenfiled Apartments' case, which has a list of three additional witnesses.

A three-member NAB team, headed by DG NAB Rawalpindi Zahir Shah, will go to London on Sunday for the flagship reference, the request states.

The references

The NAB has in total filed three references against the Sharif family and another against the then-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the accountability court, in light of the Supreme Court's orders in the Panama Papers case verdict of July 28.

The anti-graft body was given six weeks, from the date of the apex court's order, to file the reference in an accountability court while the accountability court was granted six months to wrap up the proceedings.

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The references against the Sharif family pertain to the Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, their London properties, and over dozen offshore companies allegedly owned by the family.

Maryam and Safdar are only nominated in the London properties reference. At an earlier hearing, the court also approved Maryam and Safdar's bail in the Avenfield properties case and ordered them to submit surety bonds worth Rs5 million each.

Safdar was also directed to take the court's permission before leaving the country from now on. The judge also provided a copy of the reference — spread over 53 volumes — to Maryam and Safdar.

NAB's Rawalpindi branch prepared two references regarding the Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, and the nearly dozen companies owned by the Sharif family.

Its Lahore branch prepared a reference on the Sharif family's Avenfield apartments in London and another against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for owning assets beyond his known sources of income.

If convicted, the accused may face up to 14 years imprisonment and lifelong disqualification from holding public office including the freezing of bank accounts and assets.