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Pakistan's top court on Friday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office after a damning corruption probe into his family wealth, cutting short his third stint in power and ordering a criminal investigation into his family.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Sharif was not fit to hold office after an investigative panel alleged his family could not account for its vast wealth.
The current case against Sharif and his family dates back to 2016, when documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm indicated that Sharif's sons owned several offshore companies
The "Panama Papers," published in 2016 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed the links of several influential people to secret offshore companies.
Twelve national leaders were named among the 143 politicians in the leak, which ran into 11.5 million documents. Their families and close associates from around the world were also found to be using offshore tax havens.
The companies identified so far include three British Virgin Islands-based companies Nescoll Ltd, Nielsen Enterprises Ltd and Hangon Property Holdings Ltd, incorporated in 1993, 1994 and 2007 respectively.
The Pakistan Supreme Court in October 2016 heard several petitions, including by Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which accused Sharif and his family members of illegally transferring money and issued a notice to Sharif and his family members.
(With agency inputs.)
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