Panamagate: Sharif son's counsel terms the documents a 'fraud'

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son's counsel on Thursday submitted documents in the Supreme Court, asserting that the property in London was not owned by the family, the media reported.

Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Sharif's eldest son Hussain Nawaz, told the court that it seems the documents released by Mossack Fonseca -- that is 'Panama Papers' -- "were prepared through fraud".

The case -- about alleged illegal money laundering by Sharif in 1990s, when he twice served as Prime Minister, to purchase assets in London -- was resumed on Wednesday. The assets surfaced when Panama papers showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.

After the judges presiding over the case persisted to ascertain whether or not Hussain Nawaz was the owner of the four flats in London's Park Lane area, Raja submitted fresh documents to the court, Dawn news reported.

"Where is the actual document that shows that Hussain Nawaz [...] is the owner of the four London flats?" the five-member bench of the apex court had asked.

The bench had also asked Raja to "show the relevant documents that reveal who paid Minerva Financial Services", the holding company for two off-shore entities that own the flats in question.

The documents Raja submitted purported to show the services rendered by Minerva Services to the two companies, Nielsen Enterprises Ltd and Nescoll Ltd.

The documents that showed the ownership of the Park Lane flats in London were also submitted before the bench.

The submitted documents appear to show the ownership of the flats in question. The documents also show that the payment for the flats was made to Minerva Services by Arrina Company through Barclays Bank, the report added.

--IANS

ruwa/vt