NAB officials raid Lahore company offices of Sharif family

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau teams raided on Saturday the offices of the Sharif family-owned businesses in the city.

PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed that the raids took place under the accountability watchdog today, around 12:30pm.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the Nab officials raided the offices located at 55-K and F-91 in Model Town.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that during the past 18 months, the probe body failed to prove any corruption against the Sharif family.

She further stated that the Nab officials do not give any notice prior to conducting raids.

The PML-N spokesperson said that the Nab should also raid the mills belonging to PTI leaders Khusro Bakhtiar and Jahangir Tareen.

Officers should work within the limits of constitution and law: Sanaullah

PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah addressed a press conference later in the day, where he called the raids ‘shameful’ and ‘disappointing’.

“There is no democracy in the country, the institutions should not work on personal agendas,” said the PML-N leader, condemning the raids.

“I request the officers working in these (state) institutions to use their official power within the limits of the constitution and law,” he said, adding that the investigations should not be carried out on the basis of vengeance.

Sanaullah said that the continuation of such acts will widen rifts among the political parties which can be counterproductive for the country’s progress.

The Nab is probing the Sharif family in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills for money-laundering and illegal transfer of its shares.

As per Nab, the bureau in January 2018 had received a Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) report describing huge suspicious transactions in billions of rupees in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills under 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 were shareholders in the company, along with some foreigners from the UAE and the UK.