The Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Safdar in the 2018 Avenfield properties corruption reference.
The verdict is a significant win for the PML-N government. The acquittal means that Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is now eligible to run for election.
PM Shehbaz Sharif, who is also Maryam’s uncle, congratulated his niece. Maryam said that PML-N chief Nawaz and PM Shehbaz would decide if and when she would participate in the next general elections.
Avenfield case
In July 2018, Maryam’s father and former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif was handed a 10-year jail sentence years in prison on corruption charges related to four luxury flats in London.
Maryam was given a seven-year prison sentence for “aiding and abetting” her father in the purchase of luxury apartments in London that “were acquired through corrupt means”. Safdar was also handed a one-year jail sentence. Maryam and Safdar have been on bail since September 2018. In October 2021, Maryam filed a new application with the IHC to challenge the verdict.
The family of Nawaz Sharif owns four luxury flats in Avenfield House – 16, 16a, 17 and 17a, all situated on one floor and converted into one big house by removing partition walls. The flats are reportedly owned by two offshore companies linked to the family namely Nielsen Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited.
Panama Papers
It all started in 2017 when Nawaz Sharif’s daughter was involved in the Panama Papers scandal. The documents published by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung confirmed that Maryam Safdar is the beneficial owner of offshore companies named in the Panama Papers. According to documents by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Nawaz’s children Maryam, Hassan and Hussain “were owners or had the right to authorize transactions for several companies”.
However, Maryam endorsed the statements of her brother Hussain Nawaz who said in an interview that he was the real beneficial owner of the British Virgin Islands offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll, which held the Avenfield apartments.
