Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Amid a political storm triggered by Panama Papers that rocked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family by exposing their offshore assets, including six London properties mortgaged via the British Virgin Islands, new documents have revealed a huge financial transaction by Sharif family matured less than a week before the exposure.

Documents available with Daily Times show that the Ultimate Holdings MGT Limited (Incorporated in British Virgin Islands), an offshore company owned by prime minister’s son Hasan Nawaz, sold a property on 30-03-2016 against a huge sum of £42,500,000 (estimated to be Rs 6.33 billion).

According to the proprietorship register, which specifies the class of titles and identifies the owner besides any entries that affect the right of disposal of a property, the registered owner of the property is Ultimate Holdings MGT Limited and the official address of the property is 1 Hyde Park Place, London.

The leaked Panama Papers, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposed how some of the world’s most powerful people have secreted their money offshore.

The Sharif family is under fire at home after Panama leak has prompted corruption allegations against them. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz and daughter Maryamn Nawaz have been implicated in the documents.

According to the documents, they set up at least four offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), which owned at least six upmarket properties overlooking London’s Hyde Park.The Sharif family has owned the revelations but insisted they had not done anything wrong. “There is nothing wrong. I have never concealed these facts, nor do I need to do so. I live in the UK. It is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies,” Hussain Nawaz said, hours after the leak.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has announced to launch a campaign against the government and plans to march on the Raiwind Palace on April 24 to put pressure on the beleaguered government for a free, fair and independent inquiry into the mega scandal. “Panama leak has endorsed my stand that Sharifs have wealth abroad,” he said soon after the documents were made public, calling for NAB, tax authorities and election commission to take action against the ruling family.