Sharif linked to 6 million pounds trust fund

Sharif linked to 6 million pounds trust fund
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

LONDON, JANUARY 23: Deposed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been linked to a 6.1 million pound trust fund in Britain, media reports said here on Sunday.

According to documents obtained by the Observer the fund, registered with a firm of lawyers in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, was operated by a US agent hired to represent six companies owned by the Sharif family. The ousted premier was a director and shareholder in at least one of the companies, the newspaper claimed.

A report drawn up by investigators from Pakistan's intelligence agencies, with help from the federal investigation agency, alleges that the trust is part of the "easiest" case of money laundering.

The report said while his family's firms owed millions of pounds to the Pakistani exchequer and commercial creditors, Sharif was linked to a scheme to secure millions of pounds in loans using the money in the British trust as collateral.

The new loans were then used to get more of finance from Pakistani banks. The investigators havebuilt up 16 separate cases of corruption to be registered against Sharif in the coming weeks, the report said.

Former commerce minister Ishaq Dar, implicated in another money laundering case involving bank accounts in London in names of a British Pakistani family, has furnished investigators details of how Sharif's money was transferred out of Pakistan, the report said.

Dar is also believed to have revealed the existence of properties in Vietnam, Kenya and a second investment trust in America. It is thought that the US trust received money from the Rickmansworth Trust, the report said.

None of the family's assets has been declared on electoral or government returns. The Sharifs, who have extensive property in UK have hired public relations firms in London and New York to defend themselves. The family denies any wrongdoing.