ISLAMABAD: An accountability court In Islamabad on Friday returned the plea asking for permission to include former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the inquiry related to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
Judge Muhammad Bashir directed the petitioner to approach Lahore’s accountability court in this regard, as the case was being heard there. Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz had appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore’s investigation team to record her statement in Chaudhry Sugar Mills Ltd case.
During the appearance, the investigation team handed over a questionnaire to Maryam Nawaz and summoned her again on August 8 as “she could not answer about buying share(s) of Chaudhry Sugar Mills.”
It is to be mentioned here that the evidence against the owners of the sugar mills came to the fore during the investigation against Shehbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza and Salman in money laundering and income beyond means cases.
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.
In the call-up notice to Yousuf Abbas, son of the 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.”
