Panama Papers: More trouble for ex-Pak PM Sharif as supplementary case filed

Nawaz Sharif's legal woes mounted today with Pakistan's anti-graft body filing a supplementary case against the ousted premier and his family over properties in London as the probe in the Panama Papers scandal widened.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed the case with the accountability court's registrar in Islamabad which is already trying Sharif and his family -- two sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam, and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar -- for alleged corruption in three cases. The cases are related to the Panama Papers scandal that had forced the 68-year-old three-time prime minister to resign. The new case is based on fresh evidence found by the NAB which has also listed seven new witnesses, including two based in the UK, who would testify in the court, Pakistani media quoted sources as saying.

The witnesses also include forensic expert Robert Redlee and a relative of Wajid Zia, who was the chief of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that probed the case against Sharif and played a key role in his disqualification. Sharif, Maryam, Hassan and Hussain and Safdar have been named in the new case, the sources added. "The new case strengthens the allegations by the NAB that Avenfield properties in London were purchased with corruption money," according to sources.

Sharif, Maryam and Safdar are already facing a trial by a court in Avenfield case while his two sons have been declared as absconders. The first cases were launched on September 8 following the Supreme Court verdict of July 28 that disqualified Sharif as the prime minister and ordered the NAB for institution of cases against him. The three cases against the Sharif family pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills, several companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, and London's Avenfield properties.

Sharif and his sons have been named in all three NAB cases, while Maryam and Safdar have been named only in the Avenfield case. The political future of Sharif, who heads the country's most powerful political family and the ruling PML-N party, has been hanging in the balance since his ouster. If convicted, he could be jailed. Sharif's family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.