Panama Papers verdict: Ex-chairman of Pakistan's SECP sent to jail on 14-day remand for altering official records

Islamabad: Former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Zafar Hijazi was on Saturday sent on a 14-day judicial remand by a court for allegedly altering official records presented for a probe in the Panama Papers case. Hijazi was arrested by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier in July after a report released by the joint investigation team, probing Nawaz Sharif and his family’s wealth, alleged that the former SECP chairman had altered records related to Chaudhry Sugar Mills. [caption id=“attachment_2958100” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Hijazi was presented before the Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Shabbir after his three-day physical remand with the FIA ended. The FIA requested the court for a further three-day physical remand which was contested by Hijazi’s counsel, Azid Nafees, who argued that his counsel had already been in FIA custody for seven days. Rejecting FIA’s request, the court sent Hijazi to Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand. A case was registered against Hijazi on the orders of the Supreme Court after the three-member Panama Papers case implementation bench acted on the JIT report. The court also ordered FIA to present the charge sheet against Hijazi after two-week. The ex-chief of SECP troubled started when it emerged during investigation of Panama case against Sharif that Hijazi was responsible for altering the details of record presented for the probe. The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified 67-year-old Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing the embattled leader out of office.