Money-laundering case: LHC grants post-arrest bail to Kh Asif

Our correspondent

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to former defence minister Kh Asif in a case of money- laundering and assets beyond means initiated by the NAB.

The NAB had arrested Kh Asif from Islamabad on December 29, 2020 and later shifted him to Lahore where he remained on physical remand till January 22, 2021. During the hearing, NAB’s Special Prosecutor Faisal Raza Bokhari said the first complaint against Kh Asif was received at the Rawalpindi office of the bureau on March 1, 2018. The complainant was PTI leader Usman Dar, who had lost 2018 general election against Kh Asif. He said the NAB converted the inquiry into an investigation after the arrest of Asif in December 2020. Bokhari said the petitioner was first elected senator in 1991 when his assets, as per nomination papers, were around Rs5 million. He said the assets of the petitioner swelled to Rs221 million by 2018, which were beyond known sources of his income. He said there had been a difference of Rs159 million in income and expenditures of the petitioner. He pointed out that Asif declared an income of Rs144 million from Iqama (work permit) and personal business in UAE. To a bench’s query, the prosecutor said Asif transferred money from Abu Dhabi to Pakistan through his personal bank accounts. Justice Aalia Neelum, who headed the bench, observed that the NAB submitted its two replies to the petition and both had different stances.