Shahbaz Sharif built his businesses through laundered money, says Shahzad Akbar

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior, Barrister Mirza Shahzad Akbar on Wednesday held a press conference in Lahore to share meticulous details of Shahbaz Sharif’s ongoing corruption case.

Referencing the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) charge-sheet which contains details of money-laundering allegedly committed by Shahbaz Sharif and his family, Akbar said that the document is available for the public to view, stressing that everyone should read it carefully to see how taxpayers’ money was looted from this country.

“In the document, we have compiled every detail of the way Shahbaz Sharif and his family created a chain of associates to facilitate their money-laundering activities,” he said.

Citing Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2010, Akbar said the former chief minister of Punjab wanted this clause removed so that he could easily get away with his illegal transactions.

He said there are 16 people accused of being involved in money laundering to assist the Sharif family, out of which four people are proclaimed offenders.

“We have very strong evidence against them. But whenever they are questioned about their wrongdoing, they only come up with deflective responses instead of giving specific answers,” he explained.

Providing further details, he said that even though Shahbaz Sharif says he took loans to establish his businesses, the seed investment came through laundered money.

According to the charge-sheet, Shahbaz Sharif’s bulletproof car, his mills and factories, all were established through the money that the family received through telegraphic transfers (TTs), an electronic method of transferring funds utilised for overseas wire transactions, he said. 

“The documents show that more than 70 people sent TTs to Shahbaz Sharif through his front companies. Upon investigation, all people who sent the money turned out to be of mediocre financial status, while many of them were not even living in the countries where the transfers were made.”

Akbar said the family is being charged for “acquired and accumulated assets worth Rs6122 million, the present value of which stands at Rs7.3 billion, beyond known source.”

“They concealed the origin of Rs6.1 billion, created bogus transactions of fictitious foreign remittances, declared fake loans, and established benami companies.”

Two months ago, the anti-graft body claimed that the assets of Shahbaz Sharif’s family ballooned from Rs2 million to Rs7,000 million in the last 30 years which they failed to justify.