ISLAMABAD: In a press release released mere hours after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched an inquiry against Nawaz Sharif for allegedly laundering money to India, the World Bank dismissed these claims and said they were false.
The Organisation’s local office claimed that its 2016 Remittances and Migration Report does not give information on money laundering and does not name any individuals.
“In the past day, there have been media reports citing the World Bank’s Remittances and Migration Report of 2016. These media reports are incorrect,” the World Bank’s press release read.
The press release also claimed that the Remittances and Migration Report was an effort to estimate migration and remittances numbers across the world.
“The report does not include any mention of money laundering nor does it name any individuals,” according to the WB handout.
NAB had earlier launched an inquiry into reports that former Prime Minister and beleaguered PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had laundered US$4.9 billion to India’s finance ministry.
These reports claimed that this injection of money had boosted India’s foreign reserves, while Pakistan’s economy had suffered as a result.
Speculation emerged that the World Bank’s 2016 report had mentioned this US$4.9 billion transaction, which subsequently led to many holding Nawaz culpable for money laundering.
The World Bank’s statement brings into question NAB’s credibility which launched a premature investigation against Nawaz Sharif without first verifying the reports of money laundering.
