Shahbaz family’s money-laundering case adjourned till 16th

LAHORE: An accountability court Saturday adjourned the hearing of money-laundering and assets beyond means reference against Shahbaz family till December 16 after directing prosecution witnesses to furnish relevant record.

The jail authorities produced Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz before the court amid tight security as heavy contingents of the law-enforcement had cordoned off the court premises. The jail officials informed the court that facilities have been provided to Shahbaz as per court orders.

Previously, the court had declared PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif’s wife Nusrat Shahbaz a proclaimed offender in this case. The court had also declared Shahbaz’s son Suleman Shahbaz, daughter Rabia Imran and son-in-law Ali Imran Yousaf proclaimed offenders in reference against Shahbaz family. The court had started proceeding against Shahbaz family members by declaring them absconders after they didn’t join the investigation and trial proceedings. The court had also declared three other accused as proclaimed offenders in this case including Haroon Yousaf, Tahir Naqvi and Ali Ahmad Khan.

In the reference against Shahbaz family, the NAB had claimed that in the last 30 years, the Shahbaz family assets increased from Rs2 million to Rs7,000 million that the family had failed to justify.

The NAB alleged accused Shahbaz Sharif in connivance with his co-accused family members, ‘benamidars’, front men, close associates, employees and moneychangers had developed an organised system of money-laundering for accumulation of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs 7,328 million. The NAB had nominated Punjab’s former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, his wife Nusrat Shahbaz, sons Hamza Shahbaz, Suleman Shahbaz, daughters Rabia Imran and Javeria Ali in the reference.