Shehbaz Sharif family acquired assets worth Rs7,328m from 2008 to 2018: NAB

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President, Mian Shehbaz Sharif, in connivance with his co-accused family members, benamidars, close associates, employees and moneychangers has allegedly developed an organised system of money laundering for accumulation of assets disproportionate to known sources of income to the tune of Rs7,328 million.

According to official document of the NAB regarding role of the PML-N president in money laundering case, in 1990, accused Main Shehbaz Sharif had declared his net assets at Rs2.121 million, whereas his net assets including the assets of his minor children increased to Rs14.865 million in the year 1998.

After holding the public office mostly during the years 2008 to 2018, while accused Sharif was the chief minister Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif family acquired following assets worth Rs7,328 million.

According to NAB the accused invested Rs2,770 million in 13 newly-established companies under the Umbrella of Sharif Group of Companies naming the few as M/s Sharif Feed, M/s Chiniot Power, M/s Al-Arabia Sugar Mills, M/s Sharif Dairy Farms etc without having known sources of income.

Accused established benami companies namely M/s Good Nature Trading Company (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Unitas Steel (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Waqar Trading Company, and M/s Nisar Trading Concern, held in the name of Nisar Ahmad and Ali Ahmad, employees of Chief Minister's Secretariat to launder disproportionate funds of Rs2,400.088 million.

Accused also acquired properties including the foreign assets, 96-H, Model Town, Lahore, Nishat Lodge Doonga Gali, Villas at Whispering Pines, Houses at the DHA, Lahore worth Rs619.858 million.

It says that in order to justify ill-gotten assets of Rs7,328 million, the accused and his family members/benamidars shown foreign remittances of Rs1,597 million, and loans of Rs1,010 million, which proved out to be fake and fictitious as the remitters denied having sent any amount to the accused or his family members, moreover, loans were falsely shown as source, while the lenders were actually paid employees of the Sharif Group.

Thus, the value of their disproportionate assets, acquired through laundered money comes to the tune of Rs6,122 million, with a present value of Rs7,328 million, in the year 2018, whereas, the total known sources of accused Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and his family were Rs584.444 million.

Thus, the aforesaid assets of the accused and his family members were found to be disproportionate to their known sources of income, it says.

It says said that accused persons, in order, to justify the assets disproportionate to known sources of income, created various fake/fictitious sources of income.

During the course of investigation, declared and undeclared assets of accused persons have been identified, for which they could not account for, as the sources of income claimed by them proved out to be fake/ fictitious /unknown.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020