Al-Azizia reference: Accused committed white-collar crime, NAB tells court

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday presented its final arguments in Al-Azizia corruption reference against former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Nawaz will record statement in his defense in the next hearing. NAB prosecutor Wasiq Malik told Judge Arshad Malik that the reference was not that simple, as it was an organised white-collar crime and there was need to view it in accordance with a special law.

He said Al-Azizia reference could be traced back to the Panama Papers case, which was heard by the Supreme Court. The prosecutor said Nawaz could not defend his assets before the Supreme Court, Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and NAB, and admitted to owing these assets before the apex court for the first time.

He said the accused were given an opportunity to defend their case but they could not. He further stated that Nawaz was holding a public office and his children owned assets of billions of rupees. “The question remains how these assets were acquired. Fake money trail was submitted in the case,” he added. The prosecutor told the court that 97 percent of profit earned from Hill Metal Steel Mills had been sent back to Pakistan even when the profit was less but more money was being sent. He said evidences showed that Nawaz had connection with the assets and he earned over Rs1 billion profit. The judge asked whether this amount was still available in the bank account. The prosecutor replied that the amount was not frozen and now there was little money left in the account.