Nawaz Sharif: Thy Nature is Corrupt
LONDON: The list of foreign leaders and famous people exposed in a massive leak of confidential documents held by a Panama based law firm illuminates a sprawling network of offshore investment accounts often used to make secretive investments and pad luxury lifestyles.
Expensive yachts, luxury homes in London, ownership of a candy company, investments in construction companies are just a few of the benefits reaped from these complex financial dealings. They reveal the inner whealings and dealings of the wealthy and powerful across the globe.
Numerous celebrities, sports stars, politicians and the global rich are all implicated in the so-called Panama Papers - a leak of 11million confidential files which contain more data than the amount stolen by former CIA contractor Edward
More than 200 Pakistanis have been identified to own off-shore companies, according to the data on the Papers.
The names found in the secret files from Pakistan range from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family to Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s in-laws; from Benazir Bhutto to a close aide of Asif Zardari, Javed Pasha; from Senator Rehman Malik to Senator Osman Saifullah family; and from Waseem Gulzar (a relative of Chaudhrys of Gujrat) to Zain Sukhera, who was co-accused with former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s son in Hajj scandal.
Businessmen featured in the record range from hotel industry tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani to real estate czar Malik Riaz Hussain’s son; from Hussain Dawood family to Abullah family of Sapphire Textiles, Gul Muhammad Tabba of Lucky Textiles as well as Shahid Nazir of Masood Textiles and from Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani to Zulfiqar Paracha.
The members from the bar and the bench were also spotted in the documents include one serving judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Farrukh Irfan; and one retired judge, Malik Qayyum.
President of Habib Bank AG Zurich, Anjum Zahoor Iqbal, has also used the offshore company for parking “savings” in USB Bank and buy property. Owners of Hilton Pharma, Shehbaz Yasin Malik opened the company for Swiss bank account. Chairman ABM Group of Companies Azam Sultan, Pizza Hut Owner Aqueel Hussian and Chairman Soorty Enterprise Abdul Rashid Soorty were also identified along with family members.
Whilst the majority of Pakistanis figured in the documents are businessmen, politico-business Saifullah family of Lakki Marwat stays atop with record number of 34 offshore companies in British Virgin Island and Seychelles owned by Senator Osman Saifullah, Anwer Saifullah, Salim Saifullah, Humayun Saifullah, Dr. Iqbal Saifullah, Javed Saifullah and Jehangir Saifullah. Bank accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and property in UK are owned by these companies.
Senator Osman Saifullah is a member of Tax Reform Commission set up by the government to check revenue leakage, broaden revenue base and improve tax administration.
Family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has long been notorious for being corrupt. The record identifies four companies in the ownership of Maryam Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz. Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s mother-in-law from second marriage, Samina Durrani and brother-in-law from the first marriage, Ilyas Mehraj, have also been figured in the documents examined.
A company earlier accused in oil-for-food bribery scandal also resurfaced in the record reconfirming late Benazir Bhutto, her nephew, Hassan Ali Jaffery and Senator Rehman Malik as the only three shareholders of Petroline International Inc. A close aide of Asif Zardari, Javed Pasha, has been found linked with five companies. Remaining shareholders in those companies are prominent businessmen of Indian origin.
None but Sadruddin Hashwani, Ilyas Mehraj, Justice Malik Qayyum and Aqueel Hussain responded among the above-mentioned individuals when contacted for version that has been incorporated in separate stories carrying detail of their companies.
A perusal of data indicates that some are beginners in this secret world, others incorporated the companies but left them dormant ending at dissolutions whereas many have kept them active using for the intended purposes.
Record of the ownership varies as it ranges from emails to spreadsheets, passports, signatures of shareholders, bank accounts details, property documents, resolution of directors and contact details in Pakistan and abroad.
The majority of the services of the offshore industry provides are legal in the origin of respective jurisdictions like British Virgin Island, Channel of Island, The Bahamas, Republic of Panama, Republic of Seychelles, NIUE and others. What remains to be seen in terms of Pakistani individuals is the purpose of using tax haven and whether or not have they declared this business in their tax declarations.
.........................
Dr ALI AHMED
Email: [email protected]
LONDON: The list of foreign leaders and famous people exposed in a massive leak of confidential documents held by a Panama based law firm illuminates a sprawling network of offshore investment accounts often used to make secretive investments and pad luxury lifestyles.
Expensive yachts, luxury homes in London, ownership of a candy company, investments in construction companies are just a few of the benefits reaped from these complex financial dealings. They reveal the inner whealings and dealings of the wealthy and powerful across the globe.
Numerous celebrities, sports stars, politicians and the global rich are all implicated in the so-called Panama Papers - a leak of 11million confidential files which contain more data than the amount stolen by former CIA contractor Edward
More than 200 Pakistanis have been identified to own off-shore companies, according to the data on the Papers.
The names found in the secret files from Pakistan range from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family to Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s in-laws; from Benazir Bhutto to a close aide of Asif Zardari, Javed Pasha; from Senator Rehman Malik to Senator Osman Saifullah family; and from Waseem Gulzar (a relative of Chaudhrys of Gujrat) to Zain Sukhera, who was co-accused with former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s son in Hajj scandal.
Businessmen featured in the record range from hotel industry tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani to real estate czar Malik Riaz Hussain’s son; from Hussain Dawood family to Abullah family of Sapphire Textiles, Gul Muhammad Tabba of Lucky Textiles as well as Shahid Nazir of Masood Textiles and from Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani to Zulfiqar Paracha.
The members from the bar and the bench were also spotted in the documents include one serving judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Farrukh Irfan; and one retired judge, Malik Qayyum.
President of Habib Bank AG Zurich, Anjum Zahoor Iqbal, has also used the offshore company for parking “savings” in USB Bank and buy property. Owners of Hilton Pharma, Shehbaz Yasin Malik opened the company for Swiss bank account. Chairman ABM Group of Companies Azam Sultan, Pizza Hut Owner Aqueel Hussian and Chairman Soorty Enterprise Abdul Rashid Soorty were also identified along with family members.
Whilst the majority of Pakistanis figured in the documents are businessmen, politico-business Saifullah family of Lakki Marwat stays atop with record number of 34 offshore companies in British Virgin Island and Seychelles owned by Senator Osman Saifullah, Anwer Saifullah, Salim Saifullah, Humayun Saifullah, Dr. Iqbal Saifullah, Javed Saifullah and Jehangir Saifullah. Bank accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and property in UK are owned by these companies.
Senator Osman Saifullah is a member of Tax Reform Commission set up by the government to check revenue leakage, broaden revenue base and improve tax administration.
Family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has long been notorious for being corrupt. The record identifies four companies in the ownership of Maryam Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz. Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s mother-in-law from second marriage, Samina Durrani and brother-in-law from the first marriage, Ilyas Mehraj, have also been figured in the documents examined.
A company earlier accused in oil-for-food bribery scandal also resurfaced in the record reconfirming late Benazir Bhutto, her nephew, Hassan Ali Jaffery and Senator Rehman Malik as the only three shareholders of Petroline International Inc. A close aide of Asif Zardari, Javed Pasha, has been found linked with five companies. Remaining shareholders in those companies are prominent businessmen of Indian origin.
None but Sadruddin Hashwani, Ilyas Mehraj, Justice Malik Qayyum and Aqueel Hussain responded among the above-mentioned individuals when contacted for version that has been incorporated in separate stories carrying detail of their companies.
A perusal of data indicates that some are beginners in this secret world, others incorporated the companies but left them dormant ending at dissolutions whereas many have kept them active using for the intended purposes.
Record of the ownership varies as it ranges from emails to spreadsheets, passports, signatures of shareholders, bank accounts details, property documents, resolution of directors and contact details in Pakistan and abroad.
The majority of the services of the offshore industry provides are legal in the origin of respective jurisdictions like British Virgin Island, Channel of Island, The Bahamas, Republic of Panama, Republic of Seychelles, NIUE and others. What remains to be seen in terms of Pakistani individuals is the purpose of using tax haven and whether or not have they declared this business in their tax declarations.
.........................
Dr ALI AHMED
Email: [email protected]
