Britain refuses to help in Sharif corruption case
The response from BVI’s law officer was a reply to a request of mutual legal assistance from JIT head Wajid Zia.
Islamabad: United Kingdom has refused to help Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on providing details of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family’s bank details, officials said.
The NAB had written a letter to the British authorities seeking details of bank accounts that run the offshore companies owned by the Sharif family.
However, the British authorities turned down the request, saying the NAB had not provided them with enough details to ascertain what exactly was sought in the letter.
The NAB officials had expressed displeasure over the response, sources said. They had made the letter a part of Volume 10 of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report.
Earlier, a law officer of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) had declined to assist the JIT in probing the alleged offences committed by the offshore companies owned by the Sharif family – Nescoll Limited and Neilson Enterprises.
The response from BVI’s law officer was a reply to a request of mutual legal assistance from JIT head Wajid Zia. The request sought help in the confirmation and verification of certain documents.
Meanwhile, Dubai and Saudi Arabia have agreed to provide details of Sharif family’s assets. Dubai had been asked about the details of Gulf Steel Mills and FZE Company and Saudi Arabia was requested to share the record of Azizia Steel Mills.
In July, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for hiding assets and ordered a criminal investigation into his family over corruption allegations.
The disqualifications plunged Pakistan into another bout of political turmoil after a period of relative stability, which coincided with improving security in the nuclear-armed nation.
The ouster of Mr Sharif, who served as premier on three separate occasions, also raised questions about Pakistan’s fragile democracy as no prime minister has completed a full term in power since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Mr Sharif should be disqualified after an investigative panel alleged his family could not account for its vast wealth.