ISLAMABAD : Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, while recording hisstatement in the Avenfield reference before the accountability court hereon Monday, denied ownership of the London properties and told the courtthat he had not been privy to any transactions for the acquisition of theproperties.

Nawaz and his family members are facing three references — Avenfieldproperties, Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment Co — filed by the NationalAccountability Bureau (NAB) under the directives of the Supreme Court inits July 28, 2017 Panama Papers judgement.

The PML-N supremo, his daughter Maryam, and son-in-law retired CaptainMuhammad Safdar, have been asked to record final statements in theirdefence in the references under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Codeand to produce, on record, anything contradicting the statements of the 19prosecution witnesses in the case.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir had prepared a questionnaire of128 questions and handed it over to the counsel representing the Shariffamily on May 16. According to the questionnaire, the court has asked Nawazif he was the benami owner of Nescoll and Nielsen, the two offshorecompanies that were shown as having ownership of the Avenfield flats.

Testifying before the court today, Nawaz said, “I was never involved in orassociated with the acquisition of the London properties through any realor beneficial title.”

Regarding the money trail of the London properties, Nawaz said, “I havenever been a participant in or eyewitness to any of the transactionsmentioned in Tariq Shafi’s affidavit.”

Shafi, a relative of Nawaz, in his affidavit claimed that he deposited 12million dirhams in cash with the Qatari ruling family following the sale ofthe Gulf Steel Mills in 1980.

In the affidavit dated Jan 20, 2017, which was also part of the concisestatement submitted by Hussain Nawaz, Shafi stated that he had depositedthe massive sum with Sheikh Fahad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani of Qatar,after receiving each instalment from Mohammad Abdullah Kayed Ahli.

During his testimony, Nawaz said that he could not say anything about thedocuments his son Hussain had submitted in the apex court with regard tothe London apartments.

Hussain is also accused in this case but has been absconding since thetrial began.

Responding to a question regarding his address to the nation and his speechon the floor of the National Assembly, Nawaz said, “I never stated on thoseoccasions that I was ever a real or beneficial owner of the London flats.Rather, it has always been my constant stance that I was neither a real orbenami owner of the Avenfield flats.”

In reply to a query relating to forensic expert Robert M. Radley, Nawazsaid that Radley was not a “font expert” and that he had admitted in hisstatement that the Calibri font was available prior to its launch in 2007.

Earlier this year, the British forensic handwriting document examinationexpert had told the accountability court that at the time when the trustdeed of the property was prepared in February 2006, the Calibri font onlyexisted in a beta version and was not commercially available before January2007.

Moving on to questions regarding the Gulf Steel Mills, Nawaz said that hedoes not directly know where the funds for the creation of the factory camefrom. “However, Tariq Shafi’s statement suggests that the Gulf Steel Millswere created through loans.”

Nawaz testified that he was not aware of how Gulf Steel Mills ran and wasnot a witness to how it was sold, adding that his knowledge about thematter was based on hearsay.

“Tariq Shafi was neither named a suspect in these trials nor was he calledin as a witness in the case,” Nawaz said during his testimony.

“It is a reality that I was taken into custody on October 12, 1999. Afterthat I was sent off to Saudi Arabia,” Nawaz said, adding that he is awarethat his father Mian Sharif had made Hussain and Maryam Nawaz directors ofHudaibiya Paper Mills.

“I also know that Hassan Nawaz was made a shareholder in the HudaibiyaPaper Mills by my deceased father,” he added.

During his testimony, Nawaz expressed his reservations over the formationof the Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the selection of itssix members.

He claimed that the JIT head, Wajid Zia, had hired his own close relativeto “produce fabricated evidence” against the Sharif family.

Nawaz also said in court that Bilal Rasool, another member of the JIT, is aclose relative of former Lahore mayor Mian Azhar, while State Bank ofPakistan’s Amer Aziz was also a part of the investigation of the HudaibiyaPaper mills reference — which was quashed by the the Lahore High Court.

Regarding the appointments of Brigadier Nouman Saeed of the Inter-ServicesIntelligence and Brigadier Kamran Khursheed of the Military Intelligence tothe JIT, Nawaz said, “Their appointments were inappropriate with theobvious fallout on the JIT proceedings, given the civil-military tensionthat has plagued the country throughout its 70 year history.”

Nawaz said that serious questions had been raised over NAB’s acquisition ofthe JIT report from SC as there was no record of the acquisition availablewith the apex court and the official who acquired it had not been includedas a witness in the case.

He added that following SC’s verdict in the Panama Papers case, theinvestigating officer was forced to file the references against him as hehad no other options.

Addressing NAB’s allegations that he had failed to appear despite beingserved a notice, Nawaz said that he never personally received the noticenor was there any evidence to prove that the security officer at his JatiUmra residence received it.

He clarified that he directed his lawyers to file a reply after finding outabout the notice through media.

Nawaz also said that during the course of the JIT probe and the filing ofthe references, he was not given the right to a free trial as enshrined inArticle 10A of the Constitution.

The ousted premier, during his testimony, said the prosecution could notproduce any evidence that links him to the London flats.

The hearing has been adjourned until tomorrow when Nawaz will continuerecording his statement.

The six-month deadline set by the SC for the trial of Nawaz and his familymembers in the corruption references expired on March 7, following whichthe apex court has granted two more months to the accountability court ofIslamabad to decide the three cases.