Pakistan

Sharif Group’s CFO handed over to NAB on physical remand

Accused had allegedly aided and abetted co-accused Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman in money laundering

Our Correspondent August 03, 2020

The court, after hearing the arguments, handed over the accused to the NAB on a 14-day physical remand and ordered his production on August 17. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE:

An accountability court on Monday handed over Sharif Group of Companies' Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Muhammad Usman – allegedly involved in money laundering – to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on a 14-day physical remand.

The administrative judge conducted the proceedings of the case wherein the anti-corruption watchdog officials produced the accused before the court.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that Usman had aided and abetted co-accused former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza Shehbaz and Suleman Shehbaz by playing an active role in laundering money for them.

He pleaded the court to grant a 15-day remand of the accused for investigation.

However, the defence counsel opposed the remand plea, saying that all allegations levelled against the accused were baseless.

The court, after hearing the arguments, handed over the accused to the NAB on a 14-day physical remand and ordered his production on August 17.

The national graft-buster had launched investigations against Shehbaz, Hamza and Suleman for amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income and alleged money laundering.

The NAB had summoned Usman and issued call up notices to him but the accused did not turn up for investigation.

The bureau then conducted a raid and arrested him on August 2.

In February this year, NAB teams had raided the offices of the Sharif family-owned businesses in Model Town to collect evidence on cases of money laundering and ‘benamidar’ accounts against Shehbaz Sharif.

Back then, NAB officials claimed they had recovered important documents from the offices of Suleman and Usman.

Last year in December, NAB had issued orders to freeze 23 properties belonging to Shehbaz, Hamza and Suleman over the allegation that they had acquired assets beyond their means and had been involved in laundering money.

With input from APP