Legal proceedings against Jahangir Tareen to be conducted as per law: Akbar

(Karachi) Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar has said that the government will not give NRO to anyone and legal proceedings against former PTI leader Jahangir Tareen will be conducted as per law.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Thursday, Akbar said: "There will be no favoritism in this and Tareen will be prosecuted as per the law."

He maintained that attempts to get NRO have been made before which is not a secret. "But the government will not give NRO to anyone at any cost," he stated.

He added that the government took various actions following the inquiry commission's report on the sugar scandal. He said the government made the report public despite the involvement of our own members.

He pointed out that an amount of more than Rs300 million was frozen while an investigation on the sugar scandal is underway.

Earlier, the FIA filed two FIRs against Jahangir Tareen, his son Ali Tareen, and other family members in the sugar scandal and money laundering charges.

The FIA accused Tareen of transferring over Rs3 billion from JDW company to his son-in-law's closed paper manufacturing company Farooqui Pulp. The investigation agency has also charged Tareen and others for illegal hoarding of sugar, misappropriation, and cheating in the FIR.

The FIA alleged that the money was later transferred to the accounts of different members of the Tareen family. Also, the former PTI leader and his family members are accused of being involved in purchasing US dollars from the open market and transferring them into their overseas accounts.

However, Jahangir Tareen denied the charges, saying FIA's claims are totally fabricated.