Hasan, Kayani testify before JIT

PM’s elder son Hussain will make fourth appearance before probe panel today, along with Finance Minister Dar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s younger son Hasan Nawaz and his business associate Javed Kayani on Friday testified before the joint investigation team, formed to probe the Sharif family’s offshore assets, amid heightened security outside the JIT Secretariat.

Under the new security measures, nobody was allowed to stand in the proximity of the Federal Judicial Academy -- the official JIT secretariat where the hearing took place – let aside entering it.

With the probe unfolding, PM’s elder son Hussain Nawaz has been summoned before the JIT today (Saturday) for the fourth time, while Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has also been ordered to appear along with him.



And on Friday, on the basis of the documents submitted before the Supreme Court in the Panamagate case, it was alleged that PM’s business associate Kayani had opened three fake accounts in early 1990s in the names of Sulman Zia, Muhammad Ramzan and Asghar Ali at Habib Bank AG Zurich branch in Lahore. The FIA had later found out that none of the three individuals existed and fake identity cards had been used to open the said accounts.

The bank’s records had revealed that large sums of money had been transferred from the said accounts to Sheikh Saeed Muhammad, a close friend of Prime Minister Sharif based in Washington DC.

Kayani, the individual behind the opening of the fake accounts, is said to be the nephew of Sheikh Saeed Muhammad.



It is also alleged that Kayani additionally opened three more accounts at the Bank of America in Lahore in the names of Kashif Masood Qazi, Sikander Masood Qazi and Nuzhat Masood Qazi.

Records showed that a sum of $20 million had been transferred from the ‘fake’ account of Sulman Zia to the account of Kashif Masood Qazi. The money had been used as collateral by the Sharif family for sanctioning a loan for Hudabiya Engineering Ltd from the Bank of America. The directors of Hudaibiya Engineering Ltd at that time were Hussain Nawaz, Kulsoom Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, Hasan – who recently arrived in Pakistan from the UK after receiving summons from the JIT – reached the venue at around 10am along with some folders containing documents. He was questioned for almost seven hours as he left the building at around 5:05pm.



During this time, Hasan tried to go outside the secretariat building but he was not allowed. Later, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders claimed that Hasan was not allowed to leave the venue for Friday prayers.

Under the new security protocol devised for the protection of the Federal Judicial Academy, the entry of everyone -- including federal ministers, MPs, political activists and others -- has been completely banned even in the proximity of the secretariat’s main entrance.

For this reason, the security personnel deputed to guard the building on Friday did not allow Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz and others to enter the newly cordoned-off area in front of the main gate of the JIT Secretariat.



The PML-N leaders were not allowed to receive Hasan upon his arrival to record his statement, nor were they allowed to say good-bye to him at the time of his departure due to the new security arrangements.

According to sources, the standard operating procedures of the new security have been devised by the Islamabad police as the JIT members had expressed their annoyance over the media talk of the PM’s elder son Hussain Nawaz on Thursday and the presence of PML-N activists on that occasion.

Hasan’s earlier interview to a foreign news channel was quoted as reference against the Sharif family where he told the interviewer that the Sharif family does not own London flats rather his family pays monthly rent against the flats to retain them. The claim was in contradiction with what other family members had later claimed.



Due to strict security arrangements in place, Hasan, unlike his brother Hussain, did not talk to the media before and after appearing in front of the JIT.

On Thursday, Hussain, who has appeared thrice before the JIT, claimed that the ongoing probe against him and his family was the latest example of a tradition of political victimisation that began during the tenure of Pakistan’s fifth premier Huseyn Shaheed Suharawardy.