Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Monday said that she has never been the beneficial owner of Avenfield properties and offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll. She was recording her statement before the Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir.
"The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that probed the Panama Papers case was on the agenda to implicate our whole family in the corruption reference by any means whatsoever," Maryam said. "My crime is not that I am accused of corruption, misconduct or theft. My crime is that I am the daughter of Nawaz Sharif," she alleged.
Maryam said that the "conspirators" know that the relations between a father and a daughter are very delicate in nature. She added that they are of the view that by finding his daughter in the court, Sharif would lose his confidence.
"I have never been the beneficial owner of two offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll and the Avenfield properties. I have never derived any income, profit or financial benefit either from these companies or from the Avenfield properties," she claimed.
To a question about trust deeds, she said it is correct that she produced certified and notarized copies of trust deeds but it is her categorical stance that the same is genuine.
She said that Mossack Fonseca letter dated June 22, 2012 could not be read as evidence as it is not primary document of any fact as well as this document is neither certified as per the law nor was it subjected to cross-examination by her so that she could test the veracity of the contents of these documents. She also said that the JIT did not produce the original letter in response to which Mossack Fonseca had allegedly stated that Maryam was the beneficial owner of the companies that own London flats.
"It is a matter of judicial record that I have throughout disputed and denied the veracity of the contents of the said letters. I had neither interacted nor had any dealing whatsoever with Mossack Fonseca," she claimed.
"The said document cannot be used as evidence against me since it would be tantamount to denying my right to a fair trial," she said.
Maryam also denied any involvement in any transaction of the sale of 25 percent of Gulf Steel Mills on April 14, 1980 and with subsequent investments. She also said that she was never involved or associated in any manner in collection of AED12 million from Abdullah Kayed Ahli or its deposit.
She said that the response to the request for mutual legal assistance (MLA) is not a credible document and hence it is not admissible evidence under Section 21 of National Accountability Ordinance 1999.
About a question related to letter of credit (LC) for transportation of scrap, she said the question does relate to her but the content of LC shows that it is related to transportation of secondhand machinery from Sharjah to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and not from Dubai to Saudi Arabia and the JIT members deliberately misled the Dubai authorities in this regard as well.
Maryam said that she would not produce any witness in her defense as prosecution has failed miserably to establish its case.
She said that despite not raising finger at the Supreme Court's judgment dated April 20, 2017, the reason behind dragging her through the courts finds its origin in "teaching a lesson" mindset that has threatened, harassed and victimized those who refused to accept the excesses.
Maryam said that the JIT, in its venom and quest to implicate her resorted to concocted and fabricated evidence against her. "This was done deliberately to avert the possibility of prosecution of the concerned for frivolous and malicious allegations and to deprive me of the right to expose the sinister design," she alleged.
"I know why I was dragged into the case. Why I appeared before the JIT constituted following a whatsapp call. I also know why I appeared in the court more than 70 times despite the fact that my mother, a cancer patient, desperately needs me," Maryam said.
She said that it has never happened in the 70-year history of Pakistan that a woman appeared before the court so many times in such a short span.
She said, "As per our values and traditions, daughters in our society enjoy special status but this tradition was compromised due to malice and ego. Nowadays the daughter is considered the weakness of father but I will prove that I am in fact the strength of my father."