Ex-Pakistan PM Sharif gets 10 Years for Corruption, Panama Papers Involved

Corruption is Everywhere - at the highest levels

of the Pakistani government

By Sara Shayanian

Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was sentenced Friday to ten years in prison on corruption charges.

File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced Friday to ten years in prison on corruption charges.

Sharif, who is in London and was charged in absentia, was convicted with his daughter and son in-law.

Judge Mohammad Bashir sentenced Sharif for owning assets beyond income and for not co-operating with Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau.

Daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif received seven years for abetting a crime and one year for not co-operating. Son-in-law Safdar Awan was given a one-year sentence for not co-operating. The former prime minister and his daughter also received millions in fines.

Maryam Nawaz's sons, Hassan and Hussain, were declared "proclaimed offenders" and the court ordered non-bailable perpetual arrest warrants for their capture.

The Sharif family's Avenfield apartments, which had been in their possession since 1933, will be seized by Pakistan's government.

Sharif said the charges are politically motivated and has consistently denied wrongdoing. Friday, Nawaz said her father would return to Pakistan despite attempts being made to stop him.

"Nawaz Sharif is coming," she tweeted. "Today was the last attempt, as before, will be a failure."

Fall-out from the Panama Papers

Sharif resigned last year after a 15-month investigation into his family's wealth showed Sharif's children were linked to offshore banking companies in the 2015 release of confidential data known as the Panama Papers.

The papers revealed three of Sharif's adult children owned offshore companies and assets not listed on the family's government-ordered financial disclosure statement. The companies moved funds to acquire foreign assets, including London real estate.

In May, Sharif was disqualified from holding public office again by Pakistan's Supreme Court.