ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has expedited its efforts to get more evidence against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as another delegation of the bureau left for the UK on Monday to probe into his alleged ownership of Flagship Investments.

A source in NAB told Dawn that a three-member team, headed by its Director General (Operations), Zahir Shah, will meet authorities concerned in London to reconfirm charges levelled against the Sharifs that they own 15 off-shore companies in the UK.

The NAB team is expected to return on Wednesday.

A joint investigation team (JIT) — formed by the Supreme Court — had hired services of a UK-based solicitor firm Quist, to pursue the mutual legal assistance requests, arrange forensic investigations, render legal advice and assist in collection and dispatch of relevant record/documents.

An investigative firm was also hired in the UK to acquire the relevant documents.

However, frequent visits of NAB teams indicate that the investigators still need information and evidence to prove the allegations of corruption against the Sharifs in the court.

Two weeks ago, another NAB team visited London and sought details of Sharifs’ properties, their bank accounts and tax returns. However, media reported that the attorney general of the British Version Island (BVI) refused to provide such details to the NAB team and urged it to follow relevant laws for the purpose.

Media reports said that NAB was also asked to provide proofs against the Sharifs.

Recently after, the NAB chief met Foreign Ministry Secretary Tehmina Janjua at the NAB headquarters and sought her help to get the required documents and evidence from the BVI.

Meanwhile, the NAB has prepared a supplementary reference against Nawaz Sharif and his family regarding Avenfield properties in London.

The source said the bureau had obtained more details in the case and therefore a supplementary reference would be filed soon.

“NAB received a letter from BVI, stating that Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz was the beneficial owner of the London properties; and a statement of JIT head Wajid Zia’s brother as well as confirmation regarding Calibri font that it did not exist when the property were purchased by the Sharifs in 2006,” the source revealed.

Mr Zia’s brother is running a consultancy firm in the UK and was asked to assist the JIT in getting evidence against the Sharif family.

Presently, Nawaz Sharif and his family are facing three references in Islamabad accountability court under the JIT report prepared in the Panama Papers case.

The Sharif family had earlier claimed that it obtained funds from Al-Thani family of Qatar to set up Flagship Investments and other companies. However, in their statements in the appearances before the JIT, their said stances were neither qualified nor substantiated.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2018