LONDON/LAHORE: New revelations have emerged in investigations of the National Crime Agency (NCA) into charges of money laundering against Shehbaz Sharif as the British dirty money watchdog secured production orders from a court to access the accounts of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president in Barclays.
A report in a television channel said the agency secured the production orders from Southwark Crown Court in relation to his mortgage dealings with British property magnate Aneel Mussarat.
The court allowed the NCA to probe into the 15-year-old matter relating to the laundering of huge sums, permitting it access to the bank statements, details of the mortgage agreement and financial transactions related to the purchase of two luxury residences in central London neighbourhoods and loans Sharif secured in May 2005 with help from Mussarat.
The NCA request to the court said its request for production orders was in relation to funds that were subjected to 12-month Account Freezing Orders given in December 2019 by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
According to the NCA request, these funds totalling £677,307.14 are held across four bank accounts in HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays. It claimed Sharif’s son Suleman Sharif is the joint owner of HSBC and Barclays accounts along with his father.
The application further said it suspects the remaining balance of the frozen funds is to be a recoverable property or intended by any person for use in unlawful conduct, since it is derived from the alleged criminal conduct and money laundering activity.
“So, the agency wants to determine if the funds consist, in part or full, of recoverable property. This application relates to a precise portion of the frozen funds worth GBP 315,000 derived from the sale proceeds of the Berkeley Street flat.”
The agency requested the court it believed the material would be of substantial value to the investigation. Without it, the case team will not be able to determine the true source of the frozen funds.
At this, the crown court granted access to the NCA to Sharif’s Barclays accounts.
