NAB opposes pre-arrest bail granted to Shahbaz

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has opposed the pre-arrest bail granted to Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif in an inquiry of illegal assets against him and requested the Lahore High Court to dismiss the petition of the politician.

A two-judge bench had on June 3 allowed pre-arrest bail to Shahbaz and restrained the NAB from arresting him till June 17. The bureau states that the petitioner, Shahbaz, is beneficiary of assets held in the name of his family members and Benamidars, who have no sources to acquire such assets.

It alleges that the family members and Benamidars of the petitioner received fake foreign remittances of Rs 1.218 billion in their personal bank accounts. Apart from the foreign remittances, Rs375.695 million were laundered through foreign pay orders, which were deposited in the personal bank account of co-suspect Salman Shahbaz, son of the petitioner.

The NAB maintains that the petitioner (being beneficiary) and his co-suspect family members failed to justify the claimed sources of funds, which are stated to have been used for acquisition of assets.

It says the petitioner himself failed to cooperate with the investigation as he has not provided details of sources of funds for acquiring four properties in London, details of business income and agricultural income and details of Benami companies. The NAB argues that the custody of Shahbaz is warranted with the commission of offences under the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010. The NAB asks the court to dismiss the bail petition of Shahbaz being devoid of any merit.