LAHORE: The British authorities have not allowed Pakistan's anti-graft body to collect evidence from the properties in London owned by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family, asking it to use a "government-to- government" channel to get the official information.
However, the National Accountability Bureau managed to record statements of those involved in conducting a forensic examination of the Calibri font used by Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz while presenting "fake" documents to the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers scandal.
The NAB team returned yesterday after a week's stay in London during which it recorded statements of important witnesses.
"The NAB team had succeeded in recording the statements of witnesses who had carried out the examination of the Calibri font used in documents presented in court by Maryam and also a few individuals regarding the purchase of the Avenfield properties," a NAB official said.
However, it failed to get any help from the UK authorities in this regard.
"The British government asked the NAB to utilise a government-to-government channel to have the required official record," the official said.
Earlier, the NAB had written letters to UK authorities, in connection with a mutual legal agreement, seeking details of the Sharif family's Avenfield flats 16, 16-A, 17 and 17-A, Avenfield House and Park Lane, London.
After receiving no response from the UK authorities, the NAB sent a team to London to pursue the matter in person.
Maryam was indicted in NAB references along with her father and husband retired Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar. She has been accused of presenting fake documents to the Joint Investigation Team on two declarations dated 2006, typed in Calibri font which was not commercially available till January 30, 2007.
According to the JIT report, Maryam had declared herself a "trustee, not the owner" of the Avenfield properties.
However, according to the JIT, her claim turned out to be "completely wrong" and it was proven that she had owned the properties managed by Minerva Services. The JIT added that Maryam was the "real and ultimate beneficial owner" of the Avenfield apartments.
The Sharif family is facing four corruption and money laundering cases regarding their off-shore holdings that include the Avenfield, Azizia Steel Mills, Hill Metal Company, Flagship Investments, Hartstone properties, Que Holdings, Quint Eaton Place 2, Quint Saloane, Quaint, Flagship Securities, Quint Gloucester Place, Quint Paddington, Flagship Developments, Alanna Services (BVI), Lankin SA (BVI), Chadron, Ansbacher, Coomber and Capital FZE, Dubai in the accountability court in Islamabad.