From Abid Usman
LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Friday indicted Nusrat Shehbaz, the wife of Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, in a money laundering reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
In December last year, Nusrat was declared absconder by the accountability court for her persistent non-appearance in the money laundering reference.
During Friday’s hearing in the court of accountability judge Naseem Virk, Nusrat was indicted through a pleader as she is currently in London. NAB prosecutor Usman Rashid Cheema was also present on the occasion.
The court also accepted Shehbaz’s plea for exemption from appearance in the case. His lawyer, Chaudhry Nawaz, informed the court that his client was unable to appear in person due to ill health. The court subsequently approved his request.
Shehbaz suspended all political activities a day ago as he was advised “complete rest” by doctors after he had slipped on a staircase on Wednesday.In August 2020, the NAB had filed before an accountability court a Rs8 billion reference of money laundering against Shehbaz, his wife, his two sons and other family members. The reference accused Shehbaz of being a beneficiary of assets held in the name of his family members and “benamidars” (ostensible owner), who had no sources to acquire such assets.
It said the family members and “benamidars” of the Shehbaz family received fake foreign remittances of billions in their personal bank accounts. In addition to these remittances, the bureau said billions of rupees were laundered by way of foreign pay orders which were deposited in the personal bank accounts of Hamza and Suleman.
The reference further said that Shehbaz’s family had failed to justify the sources of funds used for the acquisition of assets. It said the suspects committed offences of corruption and corrupt practices as envisaged under the provisions of National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and money laundering as delineated in the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.
