NAB submits report on Shahbaz’s family assets to LHC

LAHORE: Opposition leader in National Assembly and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif’s family Nusrat Shahbaz, Hamza Shahbaz , Salman Shahbaz and other children had assets worth Rs50.365 million in 1999 that sprawled to Rs 683.335 million in 2009 and increased to Rs3.30 billion in 2017, without justifiable sources of income, revealed a NAB report submitted to the Lahore High Court.

A two-member high court bench is hearing Hamza Shahbaz’s bail petitions in the Ramzan Sugar Mills, Saaf Paani and money laundering cases and the NAB furnished a report on Wednesday. The report disclosed that Hamza Shahbaz declared his net assets for the first time in 2001 worth Rs 22.605 million, which increased to Rs 411.205 million in 2017. The increase in assets of Rs 388.60 million is unjustified and disproportionate to his known sources of income from 2010 to 2007. In order to justify the said increase of Rs388.60 million, Hamza fraudulently showed foreign remittance worth Rs180 million as sources which were found fictitious during the course of investigation. Whereas assets of the remaining amount (Rs388.60m - 180m = Rs 208.60 m) of Rs 208 million were acquired subsequently with the funds received by Hamza from various companies established by him and his co-accused Salman Shahbaz and others. The investigation further revealed that the companies were established from 2005 to 2018 with the seed money (equity investment) of Rs 2 billion approximately. The said seed money came through remittance which was received in personal accounts of Hamza, Salman Shahbaz and Nusrat Shahbaz.

Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz, Salman Shahbaz, Nusrat Shahbaz and daughters inherited only one industrial unit namely M/s Ramzan Sugar Mills from Mian Muhammad Sharif in 2009 and that too with certain conditions to set off various claims of other family members. Hamza along with his younger brother Salman Shahbaz and mother Nusrat Shahbaz established 11 industrial units from 2005 to 2017 with major investment in the said companies from 2008 onwards. The total assets of the Shahbaz family increased to Rs683.335 million in 2009, whereas they had no known sources of income to justify the increase in assets. The assets of the family increased exponentially by the year 2017 to the tune of Rs3.300 million approximately, which they cannot account for yet again without having justifiable and known sources of income, it alleged.

The accused Hamza, Salman, Nusrat Shahbaz and others are directors/shareholders in different companies they established over the years. Since Hamza was acquiring assets in his own name and in the name of his other family members, and was also establishing a commercial business jointly with his family members, all the said assets/companies were disproportionate to known sources of income. Hamza in order to justify the acquisition of expensive assets and establishment of an industrial empire, committed organized money laundering to conceal the true origin of the assets accumulated by him and other family members, the report concluded.