Money laundering case: Court indicts Shehbaz Sharif, others

(Karachi) An accountability court in Lahore indicted PML-N President and leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and others in a money laundering case, local media reported on Wednesday.

As per details, the court instructed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present their evidence in the said case at next hearing. However, all the accused nominated in the case pleaded not guilty.

In September, Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by NAB after the Lahore High Court rejected his bail plea in a money laundering case. The PML-N leader was taken into custody from the court's premises.

As per media reports, NAB had accused Shehbaz of being beneficiary of assets held in the name of his family members and benamidars who had no sources to acquire such assets. According to NAB, the suspects committed corruption and corrupt practices as envisaged under the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and money laundering as delineated in the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.

A total of 20 people had been nominated in the reference, including four approvers Yasir Mushtaq, Muhammad Mushtaq, Shahid Rafiq and Aftab Mahmood. The main suspects are Shehbaz’s wife Nusrat, his sons Hamza (leader of opposition in Punjab) and Suleman (absconder), and his daughters Rabia Imran and Javeria Ali.