AMN
Pakistan’s Supreme Court today set up a high-level six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons’ alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case. A three-member panel of judges reviewed the names submitted by various departments that had been ordered to do so by the apex court’s April 20 verdict in the case.
The Court Order said, the JIT is bound to complete the probe in 60 days unless it is granted additional time and it is empowered to engage and associate with local and foreign experts to facilitate the investigation and for the collection of evidence. The order said, the JIT would submit fortnightly progress reports to the court.
The high-profile graft case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as the Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.
Information about the assets surfaced when Panama Papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif’s children.
Prime Minister Sharif has denied any wrongdoing since the scandal first surfaced.