Monday, September 28, 1998
Sharif amasses millions
FIA report unveils fake bank accounts
LONDON, Sept 27 (PTI) The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has charged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with allegedly amassing millions of pounds in offshore bank accounts and possessing undisclosed property in London.
In a 200-page report submitted to the Pakistan President Mohd Rafique Tarar, and the Army Chief Gen Jehangir Karamat last week, the FIA alleged that more than 41 million had been traced to accounts and companies controlled by Sharifs family, with vast amounts reportedly passing through fake bank accounts and secret tax havens.
Mr Nawaz Sharif, who is currently here, has however, dismissed the report.
The FIA, after a five-year probe, also alleged that Mr Sharifs family assets include four flats in Londons exclusive Mayfair Area worth more than 3 million, which the agency said, had never been revealed to the tax authorities, the Sunday Observer said.
The paper claimed that the Army chief "is on the brink of declaring a martial law" apparently using it as a "pretext" for dismissing the Pakistan Prime Minister, whose party commands an overwhelming two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
A top prime ministerial aide said the author of the report, the Deputy Director General of FIA, Rehman Malik was under suspension. The investigation against Mr Sharif began when he was out of power but the British media reports said it was effectively stifled when his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, (PML) came back to power two years back.
Mr Sharifs aide declined to comment on the report instead challenged the bona fide of Malik.
"There are no charges to answer, you should know the status of this person (Malik), he told Observer.
Mr Malik reportedly went underground after surviving an assassination bid against him outside his house in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, Mr Sharif, according to reports, held a marathon two-hour one-to-one discussion with Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) strongman Altaf Hussain on Friday night here in a bid to seek political patch-up with his erstwhile allies with whom he broke under "obvious pressure from the Army and fundamentalist lobby."
There are fears that new allegations of corruption might add to the political instability in crises-torn Pakistan and could be used to justify a military coup, Observer said.
The FIA investigations against Mr Sharif centres around Mr Sharifs Ittefaq group of companies, which grew at an astonishing rate during his first term in office in 1990-93. It is alleged that the companies received billions of rupees as bank loans, which had never been repaid.
The report claimed that $ 8 million sent offshore by companies within the Ittefaq group had then returned to Sharifs 43 family members and friends.
A further $ 50 million are managed on behalf of the family in Switzerland, the paper quoting the report said.
The report said four flats in "Avenfield House" in park lane in Mayfair were acquired by two companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and were linked to a bank account on a fictitious name.
Observer claimed that a paper trail leads from Nawaz Sharifs burgeoning business empire in Pakistan to Switzerland, Washington, the British Virgin Islands, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and then to London. The report alleges that the family is connected to phantom bank accounts, huge outstanding loan payments and massive tax evasion.
"Today Sharif is one of the richest man in a chronically divided country. Son of an ironmonger, Sharif and his six brothers allegedly have assets of more than 500 million in Pakistan alone, the paper claimed.
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