News Analysis |
Anti-graft court on Wednesday removed the portion pertaining to the Calibri font from the charge-sheet of the Avenfield Apartments reference. The accountability court accepted Maryam Nawaz and Capt (Retd) Muhammad Safdar’s application for altering the charge-sheet to exclude the Calibri font issue. Judge Muhammad Bashir held that the Calibri font issue can be taken up after the reference concluded.
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The issue of Calibri font gained global attention after Avenfield Apartments Trust Deed became public.
Avenfield Apartments, Trust Deed & Calibri Font
The Sharif family had taken over the possession of Avenfield Apartments soon after they were purchased between 1993-96, through British Virgin Island (BVI) Companies, Neilson, and Nescoll. Between the time period mentioned above, Mr. Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, in their tender years, started living in these flats. The Qatari investment with Mr. Fahd Al-Thani became the primary explanation for the origin of funds that were available to the Sharif family, not only for the purchase of these apartments but also for overseas businesses established by the Sharif family.
The exclusion of Calibri font from the reference might provide the temporary respite to Maryam Nawaz, but it does not mean that the problems for Maryam are over.
According to Mr. Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, the sale proceeds of Gulf Steel mills were utilized for the purchase of these apartments in addition to the establishment of various businesses in the UK and Saudi Arabia. However, all this was done by using cash and without any documentation which is very surprising.
The ownership of these flats was admitted by the Sharif family only from 2006 and not before. It was claimed that from 1994 to 2006, BVI Companies Neilson and Nescoll owned these apartments while these companies were owned by the Qatari Al-Thani family
According to Sharif’s, a trust deed was signed between Mr. Hussain Nawaz and Ms. Maryam Nawaz/Safdar declaring Ms. Maryam as the ‘Trustee’ of the Avenfield Apartments. However, Ms. Maryam did not produce the original copy of the Trust Deed before the JIT.
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The forensic examination of the “Trust Deed” was conducted by the Radley Forensic Document Library, London at the request of JIT. The Forensic Handwriting and Document Examiner, Robert W Radley stated,
“I have identified the type font used to produce both certified Declarations as “Calibri”. However, Calibri was not commercially available before 31st January 2007 and as such, neither of the originals of the certified Declarations is correctly dated and have been created at some later point in time.”
This revelation refuted the stance of Sharif family that they made Ms. Maryam Safdar a trustee of the Avenfield Apartments in 2006. It also proved that Ms. Mariam owned these flats well before 2006 and that the documents provided before Supreme Court regarding the transfer of Nielsen and Nescoll Companies to Sharif family in 2006 and the Trust Deed were forged and incorrect.
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The Supreme Court ordered the addition of Trust Deed forgery into the Avenfield Apartment reference. The exclusion of Calibri font from the reference might provide the temporary respite to Maryam Nawaz, but it does not mean that the problems for Maryam are over.