Unfreezing of assets case: Court gives final chance to Shahbaz family counsel for arguments

LAHORE: An accountability court on Friday gave the final chance to the counsel of the Shahbaz family to extend his arguments by October 21 on applications moved by the family seeking unfreezing of their assets.

The counsel, Amjad Parvez, didn’t appear before the court. However, a junior of Amjad Parvez attended the court proceedings. The court gave the final chance to the Shahbaz family’s legal team to argue the matter as arguments on the said application are pending for the last several months. Previously, the National Accountability Bureau had submitted its reply in this regard.

The NAB in its reply stated that money-laundering investigations against Shahbaz Sharif, Suleman Shahbaz, Hamza Shahbaz and others are under way. The NAB said Shahbaz made assets in the name of his wives. However, the family failed to disclose sources of its income.

The NAB said it is mandatory according to the Finance Act and the Money Laundering Act to disclose sources of income. It is pertinent to mention here that the investigation of the case has been concluded by the NAB and a reference has been submitted to the court. On the other end, the Shahbaz family had moved the court against the NAB’s act of freezing their assets, arguing that it is illegal to freeze assets during the course of investigations.