Pakistan

Sharif family paid Rs5.2 billion debt, never asked banks to write-off loans: Shahbaz

Punjab CM says his family was politically victimised by former president Pervez Musharraf

Web Desk July 08, 2015

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LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday claimed that the inclusion of PM Nawaz and himself in a 35-page report on 150 mega scams by the National Accountability Bureau was "erroneous and unjust".

“We (Nawaz and I) are not loan defaulters,” said Shahbaz while addressing a news conference in Lahore, adding that they had never asked any bank to waive off their loans .

Read: 150 mega scams: Sharif brothers, Zardari feature in NAB report

“We never asked any bank – private or public to waive our loans off,” Shahbaz added.

The chief minister in turn blamed former President Pervez Musharraf for levelling the Ittefaq Foundry case against him and his brother, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, labelling it as a case of ‘political victimisation’.

“Ittefaq Foundry case was made by Musharraf to politically victimise us,” he said, adding that they were “forced to live in exile” as a result.

Shahbaz stressed that the brothers’ assets were always in the banks adding that they returned all the money that they borrowed.

“Our assets were in the banks. We have returned each and every penny to them,” he said.

The chief minister told reporters that the Sharif brothers have paid Rs5.2 billion in debts and they never wrote to banks asking to waive their loans off.

Read: For accountability - NAB raids ‘den of corruption’

“It was Musharraf who wrote to banks to waive off loans for his blue-eyed people,” Shahbaz said.

Chaudhry Shujaat to scam allegations

President of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat later on Wednesday responded to the allegations made by NAB against him.

Shujaat said that he should be the first person to be tried for the allegations. “I am not afraid of the truth,” he said.

COMMENTS (24)

Lolz | 9 years ago | Reply Is this the same chief minister who vowed to end load-shedding in 6 months?

S.R.H. Hashmi | 9 years ago | Reply Punjab Chief Minister claims that the inclusion of Sharif Brothers in the list of 150 mega scams is erroneous and unjust. And to support his claim, he states that Sharif Brothers repaid all their loans in full and never asked any bank to write these off. However, Shahbaz Sharif’s very claim that the Sharif Brothers repaid their loans of Rs.5.2 billion in full raises certain questions. Just how long did they take to repay the loans and did they pay the interest as well or just the principal. And taking loans of Rs. 5.2 billion means they must be in business in a big way. And with these huge business interests, was it in order for them to enter politics and hold most influential state offices. Wasn’t there a clear case of conflict of interest? They were sued in UK for a loan which was claimed to have been paid by a friend. Surely, that raises suspicions and not entirely without justification. When Nawaz Sharif went to China to sign contracts/MOUs, his sons also joined him there. Is Nawaz Sharif, in his official capacity as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, helping his sons by promoting their business? Could it be that some of the businesses claimed to be those of his sons are actually Nawaz Sharif’s own, which his sons are managing purely as his nominee? In any case, where did the sons get these massive resources to run their businesses. Among various questions raised about MCB Bank’s privatisation, one is that part of the purchase price was paid from the resources of the bank. And while on the subject of privatisation, on one side, Sharif Brothers claim that it is no part of the government responsibilities to run the businesses, and on these grounds even profitable businesses which earn government dividends are being privatized. Now, are these businesses being offered to the nominees of Sharif Brothers in disguise? And when government is trying to get rid of loss-making state owned entities, what is the point in offering massively over-priced Metro bus schemes which require huge subsidies to meet their expense, which subsidies will only increase with times. And even if this service was considered to be an urgent need, just basic service could have been offered instead of this state-of-the-art service which requires huge subsidies and where artificially reduced fare distorts the market. And the recent rains have exposed glaring faults in the system. The list is by no means exhaustive. Karachi

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Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Respected CM, please help us to get Rs.5.2 billion loan and we promise, we will return all this back to you or banks AFTER 15-years. Surely, banks trusted you as Pakistani citizen, we are also. Will awIt for your open offer. Tks

Raja Porus | 9 years ago | Reply Mr. Shahbaz Sharif should also disclose who paid these Rs. 5.2 Billion to the banks on behalf of him and his brother. Here are the names as the public of Pakistan deserve to know who has been paying off the Sharif Family's defaulted loans on their behalf and what benefits these individuals will be getting in return from the Sharif Family: 1) Malik Riaz 2) Chaudhry Munir 3) Mian Amir Mahmood 4) Arif Habib Regards, Exposer of Big White-Collar Criminals

Dipak | 9 years ago | Reply Dipak@Adnoon Siddiqui: Italian Maid in India is the richest.

Adnoon Siddiqui | 9 years ago | Reply @Shahid. You are absolutely right. Sharif brothers are the most honest human beings ever to roam this earth. Thank you for the Clarification, long live Sharifs !

RF | 9 years ago | Reply Can someone tell me that what happened to the money from "KARZ UTARO MULK SAWARO" scheme. Another one they should be tried for.

Dipak | 9 years ago | Reply It's stolen money from the poor people of Pakistan.

JAM | 9 years ago | Reply This nation is politically victimized by shareefs zardaris and many more.. You people are leeches...

Shakil | 9 years ago | Reply Here is how you have paid! Wow, when did you paid back to NatWest Bank UK? as they still chasing for loan you took for Hudaibya Mills! on fake guarantees. You removed all the machinary from Ittefaq foundries and then offer it back to Banks to recover their loans from it and never paid back anything. The other loans are settled by force at token pay back to show as settled on books of banks. All these loans and kickbacks money laundered to various countries.

numbersnumbers | 9 years ago | Reply @nk: So you say that the "government" (OWNERS!) makes billions of dollars off of PSM! Curious we all don't read about that in the news!!!

Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply Sir, thou doth protest too much, methinks........

Shahid | 9 years ago | Reply Only Mr @Adnan Siddiqui will believe you.

romm | 9 years ago | Reply @nk No one from Sharif family did or can give explanation about the money plundered in the name of Qarz utaro Mulk Sanwaro Scheme..... The answer given is, Go to Courts and File the Reference...

nk | 9 years ago | Reply @Hamood: steel mills are one of the most lucrative investments in the world. it is in fact a multi billion dollar revenue stream. look at all the owners of the large steel mills in the world, they're all billionaires. theres a reason for that. it makes lots of money. you can question where else they made money from, or where they made money from to buy a steel mill, but the fact that they made billions from a steel mill is not a mystery at all.

nk | 9 years ago | Reply I say this as a PML and nawaz supporter, but where is the proof? We are talking about Rs 5.2 billion. and this is the 21st century where everything has a paper trail. and this payment was made to a bank. it wasn't paid in cold coins from your vault. it was from a bank account. and its not a small payment you make of rs 100 and don't ask for receipt. This is a massive organization....so wheres the paper trail? show us your cleared cheques. show us your ledger. show us proof from a bank that says they in fact received this amount from you. and just to be on the safe side, the bank needs to show us some part of its official paperwork to prove the money in fact was received. we need to question everyone in this country regardless of our party allegiance. We feel we only need to criticize opposition parties which is why these politicians get away with these crimes. All Shahbaz sharif has to do is hold a press conference, and without showing any proof he clears his name because everyone that supports him belives him. once these politicians know we're not such idiots, and we need proof, just watch how they change their behavior.

Hamood | 9 years ago | Reply Sharif brothers please explain how you have made an estimated billions of dollars from just a foundry?

Jibran | 9 years ago | Reply Sharif Family looted and plundered country's wealth and resources like no other. They loved privatization, mega projects, yellow cabs, motorways, metro buses, sasti roti, national banks, money laundering, paper mills, prize bonds, railway engines and tracks, while acting saints. There is no end to their greed.

Hasan | 9 years ago | Reply You paid all the loans back when you came to power. How you came by all this money when you came to power, why not earlier?

abdulrauf akhtar | 9 years ago | Reply NO PROBLEM , LET THE COURT DECIDE .

raider | 9 years ago | Reply a naive and novice will ask any bank to write off loans, once you get your loan written off, you cannot hire loan in future from any bank, they don’t pay money but documents say they paid, is the game being played, if paid some sort of loan will certainly be from money looted from national exchequer

Bunty | 9 years ago | Reply Mr sharif... if you would have honestly given the money back then you cannot have this luxurious life and loads fo money... Please give all the tax payer money back...

Ashraf | 9 years ago | Reply Agencies have suddenly become active. Qadri, IK and now unearthing old allegations. Something is happening.

a&a | 9 years ago | Reply Sir, please tell us how much tax you had paid So far?

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