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‘Panama Papers’ reveal Sharif family’s offshore holdings
‘Panama Papers’ reveal Sharif family’s offshore holdings The family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was among the dozens implicated in a massive leak of secret files from a Panamanian law firm that specializes in offshore tax havens (Dawn). According to documents available on the website of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists -- one of the approximately 100 news organizations that worked on mining the data – Nawaz’s children Mariam, Hasan, and Hussain “were owners or had the right to authorize transactions for several companies.” The Panama Papers -- one of the biggest leaks in history according to the Guardian -- are not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing. Responding to the allegations of tax evasion on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son, Hussain Nawaz Sharif, told television channel Geo that his family had done "nothing wrong" as they defended their ownership of offshore companies. "It is according to British law and laws of other countries that it is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies,” Hussain said, referencing the London real estate owned by him and his brother Hasan. He left Pakistan in 1992 and is therefore not resident, Hussain said, adding that Pakistani tax law "says that if you are not staying in Pakistan for more than 138 days, then you are not required to declare your assets.”