ISLAMABAD: The last prosecution witness and investigation officer in the Flagship reference testified before the accountability court on Wednesday that a son of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Hassan Nawaz, was the owner of 17 flats and properties in the name of his 18 companies.

While sharing details of the properties with the court, IO Mohammad Kamran also submitted some relevant documents. However, defence counsel Zubair Khalid raised objections to the submission of the documents which he argued were not admissible under the law of evidence.

The witness testified before the court that he visited the United Kingdom to pursue the requests forwarded by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Joint Inves­tigation Team (JIT) for mutual legal assistance. He said an application was submitted to the Companies House to obtain addresses of the companies owned by Mr Hassan. He said NAB’s director general accompanied him during his visit to the UK. He said they visited the Pakistan High Com­mission in the UK on Aug 24, 2017 where the staff provided to them some important documents related to the business of Mr Hassan.

In 2001, the IO said, the total value of the former prime minister’s assets was Rs12.76 million and that of Hussain Nawaz’s assets was Rs33.8 million, while the total value of assets of Mr Hassan was Rs4.36 million. He added that Mr Sharif’s son borrowed and lent money to the companies within and outside the UK.

The accountability court adjourned the proceedings till Thursday as Mr Kamran is yet to conclude his statement. The court after recording his complete testimony would record the statement of the former prime minister in Flagship and Al-Azizia references.

As per the latest deadline given by the Supreme Court to the accountability court, Judge Mohammad Arshad Malik is required to conclude the proceedings in both Flagship and Al-Azizia references by Nov 17.

The Supreme Court on July 28 last year disqualified the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and directed NAB to file three references before the accountability court.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2018