Nawaz firm on taking on NAB over money laundering issue

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to not step back on NAB money laundering allegations terming them as a ‘very serious’ matter.

Talking to journalists outside accountability court on Friday, the PML-N Quaid said what is happening today we never saw it even during military regimes.

Today, we have convened a meeting of party's Central Executive Committee, top decision making body, to discuss this issue, the elder Sharif said.

Nawaz said he had discussed this with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi too.

Earlier this week, the accountability bureau said in a statement that the anti-graft body is verifying media reports that Nawaz Sharif had illegally transferred $4.9 billion to India helping New Dehli strengthen forex reserves. The World Bank denied releasing any such details in the report.

PM Abbasi asked the National Assembly to summon NAB Chairman Justice Javed Iqbal and constitute a special committee to probe it.

And on Thursday, Nawaz dared the bureau’s chairman to furnish proof of money laundering to India against him or quit the office within 24 hours.

Terming the allegations as shameful, Nawaz said the NAB and its chairman had lost credibility.

Alleging that his disqualification was predetermined, he stated that NAB’s press release was an episode of an upcoming accountability drama. “They deposed me for an Iqama when they could not prove corruption. I have faced over 70 hearings – they are hunting for something that can be used to send me packing for good.”

Referring to the NAB's probe against him involving alleged money laundering of $4.9 billion to India, he said the cases being heard against him by an accountability court were also based on unverified media reports, originating from the so-called Panama Papers. “You can recall that I was not named in the Panama Papers but whatever happened is before you," he said.