Shahbaz Sharif family assets up from Rs2m to Rs7,000m in 30 years: NAB

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau has claimed that in the last 30 years, the Shahbaz family assets ballooned from Rs 2 million to Rs 7,000 million that the family failed to justify.

The NAB alleged the accused Shahbaz Sharif in connivance with his co-accused family members, Benamidars, front men, close associates, employees and moneychangers developed an organized system of money-laundering for accumulation of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs 7,328 million.

After the arrest of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif from the premises of the Lahore High Court, a document was shared by the NAB Lahore, which claimed that in 1990, Shahbaz declared assets worth Rs 2.121 million which grew to Rs 7,328 million in 2018 in the time span of 28 years. The NAB stated that in the year 1990, Shahbaz declared his net assets at Rs 2.121 million, whereas his net assets (including the assets of his minor children) increased to Rs 14.865 million in the year 1998.

After holding the public office (mostly during the years 2008 and 2018 when Shahbaz was the chief minister Punjab), his family acquired assets worth Rs 7,328 million, the NAB added.

While sharing the details of assets of Shahbaz, the NAB stated that the Shahbaz family invested Rs 2,770 million in 13 newly-established companies under the umbrella of the Sharif Group of Companies naming the few as M/s Sharif Feed, M/s Chiniot Power, M/s Al-Arabia Sugar Mills, M/s Sharif Dairy Farms, etc, without having known sources of income.

The accused established Benami companies namely M/s Good Nature Trading Company Pvt Ltd, M/s Unitas Steel Pvt Ltd, M/s Waqar Trading Company and M/s Nisar Trading Concern (held in the name of Nisar Ahmad and Ali Ahmad, employees of the CM Secretariat) to launder disproportionate funds of Rs 2,400.088 million. The accused also acquired properties including foreign assets along with 96-H, Model Town, Lahore, Nishat Lodge Doonga Gali, Villas at Whispering Pines, houses at DHA, Lahore worth Rs 619.858 million.

The NAB claimed that to justify the alleged ill-gotten assets of Rs 7,328 million, the accused and his family members/Benamidars showed foreign remittances of Rs 1,597 million and loans of Rs 1,010 million, which proved to be fake as the remitters denied having sent any amount to the accused or his family members. Moreover, loans were falsely shown as source, while the lenders actually paid the employees of the Sharif Group, the NAB added.

The NAB stated that the value of the Shahbaz family’s disproportionate assets acquired through laundered money comes to the tune of Rs 6,122 million, with a present value of Rs 7,328 million in the year 2018, whereas the total known sources of Shahbaz and his family were Rs 584.444 million. The aforesaid assets of the accused and his family members were found to be disproportionate to their known sources of income, the NAB stated.

The NAB alleged that Shahbaz in connivance with his co-accused family members, Benamidars, front men, close associates, employees and moneychangers developed an organized system of money laundering for accumulation of assets disproportionate to known sources of income to the tune of Rs 7,328 million. The NAB in the document alleged that the accused persons, in order to justify the assets disproportionate to known sources of income, created various fake sources of income.

The NAB concluded that during the course of investigations, the declared and undeclared assets of the accused have been identified, for which they could not account for, as the sources of income claimed by them proved to be fictitious and unknown.