JIT reaches SC to submit Panama probe final report

ISLAMABAD: The Panama Case Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has arrived at Supreme Court to submit its final report on alleged money laundering by the family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Supreme Court today (Monday).

Amid strict security arrangements, the six members of JIT headed by Federal Investigation Agency Additional Director Wajid Zia reached Supreme Court to submit the final probe report before the special implementation bench.

Before arriving Supreme Court, the probing body held their last session at the Federal Judicial Academy to review the final report of their investigation.

Besides other evidence, the report will consist of the statements of PM Sharif; Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif; the PM’s children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz Sharif; son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar; PM’s cousin Tariq Shafi; friend Javed Kayani and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is the father-in-law of the PM’s younger daughter.

The investigation remained incomplete due to the absence of the statement of former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani, a key defence witness.

The JIT was constituted on May 5 in light of the court’s April 20 judgment in Panama Papers case and were given 60 days to complete the probe of the money trail of the Sharif family-owned properties in Park Lane, London.

The six-member JIT comprises its head, FIA's Wajid Zia, Amer Aziz of the State Bank of Pakistan, SECP Executive Director Communication Bilal Rasool, Irfan Naeem Mangi of National Accountability Bureau, Brigadier (retd) Nauman Saeed of the Inter-Services Intelligence and Brigadier Kamran Khurshid from the Military Intelligence.

The special bench is headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and includes Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

Authorities have issued a red alert for the federal capital's Red Zone, where the Supreme Court is located, and strict security measures are being taken pertaining to the JIT’s report submission.