Court indicts Pak official in Sharif Mills case

Islamabad, Oct. 27: A special court of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan indicted former Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman Zafar Hijazi for tampering with records related to the Sharif family’s Chaudhry Sugar Mills on Friday, a report in the Dawn said on Friday.

Hijazi was taken into FIA custody earlier this year after a report released by the Panama Papers case joint investigation team (JIT), probing then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family's wealth, alleged that the former SECP chairman had altered records related to Chaudhry Sugar Mills.

A case was registered against Hijazi on the orders of the Supreme Court after the threemember Panama Papers case implementation bench acted on the JIT report.

The chargesheet read out against Hijazi on Friday said that he had pressured his subordinates to change dates on documents related to the sugar mills.

Hijazi pleaded not guilty to the charges before the special court judge, Irum Niazi.

His lawyer was of the view that the statement taken from an SECP officer, Maheen Fatima, was not solid enough to run a trial on, but the prosecutor opposed this view. Subsequently, Hijazi was indicted. The next hearing of the case will be on November 10, and witnesses will be notified for the trial.

SECP officials in July told a parliamentary committee on Finance that Hijazi had harassed and pressured them into closing the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.