Sharif family to answer questions about assets before commission
By Muhammad azam
The riddle of the offshore companies allegedly owned by the family of
the prime minister as claimed by the Panama Papers, when read with the
official record of the UK government regarding the ownership/land
registry of Park Lane flats since early 1990s obtained by The News and
the 1999 judgments of UK high court, helps understand the story to some
extent.
Hussain Nawaz, the son of the prime minister, has told the media in
his repeated statements that only after selling a steel mill in Saudia
Arabia in 2006, he bought two offshore companies — Nielsen Enterprises
Limited and Nescoll Limited — and then purchased flats number 16, 17,
17A of Park Lane, London, in the names of these offshore companies. He
said that he or any member of his family never owned these offshore
companies before 2006. In an interview, he also stated that there was no
flat 16A on the above-mentioned address in the name of his family.
According to the UK government official documents obtained by The
News, following are the details of these flats and their ownership since
1993.Flat 16, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, Registered Owner:
NIELSEN ENTERPRISES LIMITED care of Messrs Dibb Lupton Broomhead
(reference LJR), 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AE. Title Number:
NGL338285. The flat was registered in the name of Nielsen on July 31,
1995. The official documents say that the flat only comprises a portion
on the 3rd floor of the building.
Flat 16A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, Registered Owner:
NIELSEN ENTERPRISES LIMITED care of Messrs Dibb Lupton Broomhead
(reference LJR), 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AE. Title Number:
NGL351184. The flat was registered in the name of Nielsen on July 31,
1995. The official documents say that the flat only comprises the
portion on the 3rd floor of the building.
Flat 17, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, Registered Owner:
NESCOLL LIMITED care of Dibb Lupton Broomhead, of 125 London Wall,
London EC2Y 5AE. Title Number: NGL342976. The flat was registered in the
name of Nescoll on June 1, 1993. The official documents say that the
flat only comprises a portion on the 3rd floor of the building and
property was made in 1978.
Flat 17A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, Registered Owner:
NESCOLL LIMITED care of Dibb Lupton Broomhead, of 125 London Wall,
London EC2Y 5AE. Title Number: NGL342977. The flat was registered in the
name of Nescol on July 23, 1996.
The UK high court decisions in Hudabiya Papers Mills loan default
case on March 16, 1999 and November 5, 1999 show that for the loan
acquired by Hudabiya on February 15, 1995, Flat 16, Flat 16A, Flat 17,
Flat 17A were pledged with the Al Towfeek Investment Fund Limited.
The judgments and the court documents of Lahore High Court (LHC)
available with The News as well as some NAB documents show that the
Hudabiya Papers Mills is owned by the Sharif family with almost all the
members of family as its directors.
So the question arises if the offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll
own these Park Lane London flats since 1993, how the Sharif family
pledged the flats to a UK bank in 1995 to obtain a financial facility
without owning the offshore companies, the real owners of these flats at
that time as per the official documents of the UK government.
This question becomes important keeping in view the repeated
statements of Hussain Nawaz, official statements of the government made
by federal ministers and Daniyal Aziz that these offshore companies and
the flats were only bought in 2006 after the Sharif family sold a steel
mill in Jeddah.
The government spokesman also added that no member of the Sharif
family even owned any of these offshore companies before 2006. A reputed
UK newspaper The Guardian had quoted Kalsoom Nawaz on April 10, 2000
that her family “bought” these Park Lane flats for the education of
children. Khalid Anwar, the-then law minister during Nawaz Sharif’s
second tenure as the prime minister, however, has stated that the Sharif
family has taken these flats on rent.
Replying to this question, a government spokesman said that the
Sharif family has answers to all the questions which will be presented
before the judicial commission and the whole nation will be satisfied
with the answers and explanation of the facts.