Sharif's daughter submitted false documents, says JIT

The Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam of presenting fake documents to the probe team, which it said is a criminal offence.

The JIT, which is probing allegations of money laundering against Sharif and his family, said Maryam Nawaz, her brothers Hussain and Hassan Nawaz as well as her husband Captain Mohammad Safdar (Retd.), had signed false documents to mislead the Supreme Court.

Maryam is also accused of accumulating "assets disproportionate and beyond means of known sources of income", Dawn newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The JIT's report said, "She (Maryam) had been receiving heavy gifts from Rs 73.5 million to Rs 830.73 million within period of 2009-2016."

It said that the "accumulation of Maryam's assets shows a drastic hike in the early 1990s with no declared source of income".

Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz rejected the JIT report in a tweet: "Every contradiction will not only be contested but decimated in the Supreme Court."

According to legal experts, these developments may not disturb her plan to enter politics, at least for the time being.

The Supreme Court has sought objections from all parties in the Panama Papers case within a week and the next hearing of the case is scheduled for July 17.

Raja Amir Abbas, former Deputy Prosecutor General with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), said Maryam Sharif can contest the elections till the charges against her are proven.

Former Supreme Court Bar Association President Syed Ali Zafar, however, said that in case the Supreme Court confirms the JIT's allegations regarding the submission of false documents, Maryam may be disqualified from contesting the elections.

The JIT was formed on May 5 to ascertain the money trail of the Sharif family-owned properties in Park Lane, London.

--IANS

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