Sharifs can never present money trail: Shibli

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz has said PML-n President Shehbaz Sharif was arrested on Monday because he could not satisfy the court as to how he made his assets just like his brother Nawaz Sharif, who, according to him, also failed to justify his illegal assets.

“The PML-N leadership is giving an impression that the courts that granted bail to Nawaz Sharif were very good but the courts which ruled against him were politically motivated. This hypocrisy is tantamount to contempt of court,” Shibli said at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday.

He was accompanied by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar.

The minister said both Nawaz and Shehbaz have not answered a single question asked by NAB to date. “In order to conceal the facts, they hide behind the veil of democracy and present themselves as oppressed facing political revenge,” the federal minister said.

He said as there is no restriction on making assets by legitimate means and Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif should justify as to how they made so much money and assets – a simple question whose answer they have been deferring for long.

The federal minister said the government wants the institutions to stand on their own feet and make their own decisions as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Commenting on PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz press conference, he said Maryam is trying to cover up the theft of her family by painting NAB cases as political vendetta.

“By mocking [Shehbaz’s] politics of reconciliation, Maryam Nawaz has hit out at her uncle.”

He said Shehbaz Sharif could not answer NAB’s questions at all while Maryam Nawaz in her press conference on Monday claimed that they belonged to a rich family.

“If this is the case, the answer would have been very simple as Islam also allows making money by fair means. But when the government, the courts or investigating officers ask the sources of their fortune, the top PML-N leaders refuse to reply.”

He said like Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif also has no answer to such queries because all his assets are illegal and they have been made through corruption.

“The PML-N thinks that it is above the law. Its leaders considered themselves special creatures and asking them questions amounts to insulting their dignity. The attitude of the Sharifs is more arrogant than kings,” he added.

He said the PML-N leadership considers it a shame to appear before any institution. Whenever Nawaz Sharif was in power, his children, assets and investments were diverted out of the country because he hoped that he would be also out of Pakistan when he is not in power.

Talking about the 300 kanal house of PM Imran Khan, Shibli said even though the PTI chief was neither in business nor held any public office, he gave trail of the money and assets he built during the 40 years of his career along with all the evidence in a case referred by PML-N government to the Supreme Court.

In the past, he said, the PML-N had put pressure on the judiciary. “The people still remember the Malik Qayyum case; now Sharif is telling us that there is a nexus between the prime minister and the court.”

Mirza Shahzad Akbar said Shehbaz Sharif had lost the legal battle today.

He said it was said that Shehbaz was arrested when Gilgit-Baltistan(G-B) elections were around the corner. However, he questioned as to how many times Shehbaz visited the G-B in the last six months.

He said the Lahore High Court canceled the bail awarded to Shehbaz Sharif on the basis of evidence.

“The PML N leader headed a gang of 16 people to launder money. These people comprised employees of his house. Shehbaz Sharif laundered money from kickbacks and commission using his wife's account. Shehbaz created companies in the name of his employees,” he alleged.