Money-laundering, assets beyond means: NAB forwards Rs7b reference against Sharifs for approval

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau, Lahore, has forwarded a Rs 7 billion money laundering and assets beyond means reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and their family members to the NAB chairman for approval to be filed in an accountability court.

It has been learnt that the reference has been received by the NAB Headquarters and after a pre-board meeting, it will be put before the NAB chairman for approval. The NAB has nominated Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif as prime accused in the reference. On the whole, the NAB has accused 16 persons in this case including Nawaz, Maryam, Shahbaz, Hamza Shahbaz, Ali Imran Yousaf and others. Moreover, the NAB has added confessional statements of four persons along with 100 witnesses.

As per details of Chaudhry Sugar Mills money-laundering investigations, the NAB in January 2018 received a Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) report describing huge suspicious transactions in billions of rupees in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. It is pertinent to mention here that in January 2018, the PML-N was ruling the country.

After receiving the FMU report, the NAB started its inquiry in October 2018 and found that Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Shahbaz Sharif and family and Abbas Sharif and family are shareholders in the company along with some foreigners from the UAE and the UK. During probe, it revealed that huge investments were made in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills from 2001 to 2017 in billions of rupees to issue shares in the name of foreigners. Interestingly, later on, the same shares of the company were transferred back to Maryam, Hussain and Nawaz on various occasions without paying any money to the foreign business partners.

Maryam during her hearing before the NAB CIT allegedly failed to establish her business links with foreign nationals including Saeed Saif Bin Jabar Al-Suweidi (UAE national), Sheikh Zakauddin (UK national), Hani Ahmad Jamjoom (Saudi national) and Naseer Abdullah Lootah (UAE national) after which she was summoned for August 8 and arrested.

During remand proceedings of Maryam, an investigation report was submitted by the NAB in the accountability court, which alleged that Maryam and her father Nawaz Sharif laundered hundreds of millions of rupees. The report said that assets of the accused were beyond their means. The NAB informed that Maryam was director of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills from 1992 to 1997 and was also chief executive of the mill in 1995-96. The report said Maryam had 864,000 shares in 1995-96 but in 2008-10, she had 12 million shares of the mill and was 47 per cent owner of the CSM. It said Nawaz Sharif was a small shareholder of the mill in 1999 but was owner of 46 per cent shares in 2015-16.

The NAB claimed that Maryam was continuously changing her stance regarding shares being transferred in her name from foreign nationals. It claimed that Maryam had said that perhaps her grandfather had a business link with foreign nationals. Maryam’s grandfather had died in 2004, but the shares were transferred in her name in 2008. The report said Maryam was a trained politician and reluctant in telling details of the shares.

The NAB informed that in October 2013, Rs 500 million were transferred from abroad to the account of Yousaf Abbas and the tax record of Yousaf states that he has no business in foreign lands. It stated that Maryam and Yousaf purchased another sugar mill namely Shamim Sugar Mill for an amount of Rs 1.2 billion. Later, in 2013, the mill was sold and the bureau has summoned new owners with the record. Moreover, the accused didn’t answer from where the capital came for the purchase of the Shamim Sugar Mill.

NAB sources claim that investigators have come to a conclusion that the names of foreigners were used as proxies to make huge investments in the company for the reason that the Sharif family did not have white money for investment. They allege that the Chaudhry Sugar Mills investigation is a classic case of money laundering.

Moreover, the NAB is investigating all members of the Shahbaz family for alleged money laundering and having assets beyond means. The NAB had summoned Hassan and Hussain but both didn’t appear as they are absconders in the Avenfield case and living in London.

Meanwhile, the NAB Lahore has started a new probe against Nawaz and Shahbaz family for allegedly illegally acquiring land measuring thousands of Kanals in Jati Umra, Raiwind. As per sources, in this probe, the NAB is likely to question Shamim Begum, mother of the Sharif brothers.

It has been learnt that this matter has also been referred to the NAB chairman to convert this complaint verification into inquiry. In this probe, it is alleged that the Sharif family by using its influence in 2013 declared thousands of Kanals as agricultural land and later in 2014 with the bureaucratic help of Ahad Khan Cheema turned that land into a residential area.

Then DG LDA Ahad Khan Cheema and then DCO Lahore Noorul Amin Mengal will also be probed by the NAB in this matter, the sources said.

Moreover, after approval of the inquiry from the NAB chairman, Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif will be issued call-up notices, the sources said.