Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Wednesday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore to record her statement in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, a private TV channel reported.
Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz were also summoned by the accountability watchdog, however they failed to appear.
The investigation team handed over a questionnaire to Maryam Nawaz and summoned her again on August 8 as ‘she could not give satisfactory answers to the questions about buying shares of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.” The bureau has given her deadline of seven days for submitting her reply to the questionnaire.
Watchdog hands over questionnaire to PML-N VP as she ‘fails to satisfy the investigators’
The report claimed that Maryam was asked questions about shareholders of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills. The investigators inquired about how and where the shares were divided since the inception of the mills in 1985. They also inquired about four foreign shareholders of the mills. The foreign shareholders are: UAE’s Saeed Saif Bin Jabbar Al-Saudi, UK’s Sheikh Zakauddin, a Saudi by the name of Hayi Ahmed and UAE’s Naseer Abdullah. Questions were also asked about Shamim Sugar Mills and the investment details of the mills.
The NAB has also summoned Nawaz Sharif’s nephew Abdul Aziz Abbas in relation to the ongoing inquiry in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif is also likely to be called by the bureau in the same case.
The evidence against the owners of the sugar mills came to the fore during an investigation against Shehbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza and Salman in money laundering and income beyond means case. The NAB has purportedly traced numerous telegraphic transfers (TTs) worth millions of rupees by the Sharif family and the end beneficiaries allegedly included Maryam Nawaz and other owners of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
Maryam says a ‘meaningless theatre’ is continuing
The NAB has launched another investigation against members of the Sharif family, and in this regard, the bureau, for the first time, summoned Yousuf Abbas on July 23 and recorded his statement. In the call-up notice to Yousuf Abbas, son of late Abbas Sharif, the NAB had said, “The competent authority has taken the cognizance of offences committed by the owners of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills under the provisions of the NAB Ordinance 1999 and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.” The NAB asked him to ‘specify the channel through which payment was received for exports, including banking accounts where payment was received, country of export, and the quality of sugar exported’.
On the other hand, the Bank of Punjab (BoP) has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for its inclusion in Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills’ auction – which is to be held on August 31 as per court orders – in order to buy its property. The application, filed on behalf of the bank, mentioned that the court has ordered auction of Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills owned by Haseeb Waqas, the cousin of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, for being a bank defaulter. Waqas reportedly took loan from the BoP but didn’t return the amount.
Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz has said a meaningless theatre is continuing as NAB has nothing with it to ask her. “Back from NAB. Told them the questions about family business have been asked & answered a zillion times & nothing found even by agenda-driven JIT,” she tweeted. “But since the aim is to use NAB as a tool to harass & victimize, the theatre of the absurd continues,” she added.
