NAB orders freeze on Shehbaz Sharif family’s assets

Anti-graft watchdog bans sale, purchase and transfer of all moveable and immoveable assets

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has ordered that all moveable and immoveable assets belonging to Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his family members should be frozen with immediate effect.

In separate letters written to various departments including excise and taxation, revenue and district governments on Wednesday, the anti-graft watchdog banned sale, purchase and transfer of all properties belonging to former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz and his family members including Hamza Shehbaz, Sulaiman Shehbaz, Nusrat Shehbaz and Tehmina Durrani.

The letters have been sent to deputy commissioners (DCs) of Haripur and Model Town, and director generals of excise department, Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Lahore Development Authority (LDA), SECP, Judicial Housing Authority and JDA.

The frozen assets include three properties belonging to Tehmina Durrani in Hairpur’s Pir Sohawa tourist resort; two Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs owned by Shehbaz; two plots (87 and 96) in Model Town’s block-H owned by Nusrat Shehbaz; two plots belonging to Tehmina Durrani in DHA Lahore’s Phase-V; 14 properties belonging to Hamza and Sulaiman; Shehbaz family’s trading assets in Ramzan Sugar Mills, European-Asian Trading Co, Madina Trading, Sharif Feed Mills, Madina Construction Co, Sharif Poultry Farm, Sharif Dairy Farm, Ramzan Energy, Sharif Milk Products, Crystal Plastics, Chiniot Power, Ag Energy Consultants, Al-Arabia Sugar Mills and Unitas Power.

NAB on October 5, 2018 arrested Shehbaz, also the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, in connection with Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme case. However, it also initiated another inquiry against Shehbaz for allegedly owning assets beyond his known sources of income.

During its probe into this case, NAB arrested few suspects including Shehbaz’s son, Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz. Some suspects revealed that they had been doing the job for Sharif family.  Later on, it arrested a Mushtaq Chini who later became an approver against Shehbaz

NAB also sent questionnaires to Shehbaz’s wives, daughters and other family members, seeking details about assets, businesses and properties. However, now NAB has decided to freeze his asset as Shehbaz and his family members could not satisfy its investigation team.

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