ISLAMABAD: Wajid Zia, who led the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked with investigating money-laundering allegations against the Sharif family in the Panama Papers case, appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer handed over to the bureau some documents pertaining to the alleged corruption of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family, a senior NAB official told Dawn.

Although NAB did not officially provide details of the meeting to the media, a source said that Mr Zia recorded his statement before the NAB Rawalpindi.

Wajid Zia submits documents regarding Sharif family’s ‘corruption’

Sources said that after the Sharif family’s refusal to record statements before NAB, it was decided that all statements made before the JIT would be used by the bureau in the four references that were to be filed in accountability courts, in line with the Supreme Court orders.

During his meeting with NAB investigators, Mr Zia provided verified statements of Nawaz Sharif, his children Maryam, Hussain and Hassan, as well as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

It is expected that Wajid Zia will also appear before the anti-corruption watchdog as a witness on Wednesday.

Earlier, Justice Ijazul Ahsan of the Supreme Court, who is overseeing the NAB proceedings against the Sharif family, had allowed investigators to record statements of JIT members who had investigated the Panama Papers case.

NAB had given a deadline to its Lahore and Rawalpindi bureaus to submit reports on the Sharif family’s offshore assets by Sept 11. However, it has now decided to file four references soon after Eidul Azha, or in the second week of September.

One of the references is regarding Al-Azizia Steel Mill, while the other two relate to the London flats and 16 offshore companies, owned by the Sharif family. One reference will also be filed against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

It is expected that other JIT members will also record their statements before NAB in the coming days.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2017