Court indicts former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in LNG reference

(Karachi) An accountability court in Islamabad indicted former premier and PML-N MNA Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the LNG reference, Radio Pakistan reported on Monday. Abbasi has been accused of awarding the LNG Terminal-1 contract in a non-transparent way.

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former PSO MD Imranul Haq are among 12 others who have also been indicted. The court has sought evidence from the prosecution on November 19.

In the last hearing, Abbasi’s counsel told the court that the NAB did not provide any document with respect to allegation levelled against his client regarding money laundering. “Charges could not be framed regarding those allegation about which documents had not been provided to us,” he said.

He said the NAB had calculated two types of losses, one was related to the crime, which had happened, and another was related to the crime, which was continuing. He also said the NAB had not provided any documentary proof about the continuing crime.

Raising objections on Abbasi's counsel remarks, NAB prosecutor said the NAB had sufficient evidence regarding involvement of Abbasi in money laundering.

He said from 2013 to 2019 Rs1.2 billion additional amount had been transferred in to the accounts of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi through suspicious transactions.

The NAB prosecutor stated Abbasi was unable to explain before the investigators that from where he had received the additional amount of Rs1.2 billion, which had been transferred to his accounts from year 2013 to 2019, the prosecutor further told the court.