NAB declares PM Shehbaz Sharif, others 'innocent' in money laundering case

• Accountability court postpones hearing till May 24.
• PM failed to justify how family assets grew from Rs2m to Rs7bn.
• PM's wife, sons, two daughters amongst those nominated by NAB in money laundering case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has declared Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shehbaz and others “innocent” in Rs7 billion references against them for assets beyond means and money laundering filed against them by the anti-graft body.

During a hearing — which was heard by Judge Qamar-ul-Zaman at an accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday — the anti-graft body submitted a supplementary report for the money laundering reference.

PM Shehbaz’s legal representative Anwar Hussain appeared in the court, where NAB acquitted the prime minister, his son, and other people indicted in the case.

At the end of the hearing, the accountability court postponed the hearing of the case till May 24.

Earlier, the bureau had declared PM Shehbaz and his family guilty in Rs7 billion references of money laundering and assets beyond means.

NAB had claimed in references filed against the Shehbaz family that in the last 30 years, their assets had increased from Rs2 million to Rs7 billion which the family had failed to justify.

NAB had alleged that accused PM Shehbaz, in connivance with his co-accused family members, benamidars, front men, close associates, employees, and moneychangers, had developed an organised system of money laundering for the accumulation of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs7.3 billion.

Consequently, the accountability watchdog nominated PM Shehbaz, his wife Nusrat Shehbaz, sons Hamza and Suleman Shehbaz, and daughters Rabia Imran and Javeria Ali in the references.

Suleman is already a proclaimed offender in this case. The other nominated accused are Nisar Ahmad, Syed Muhammad Tahir Naqvi, Ali Muhammad Khan, Qasim Qayyum, Rashid Karamat, Masroor Anwar, Muhammad Usman, Fazal Dad Abbasi, Muhammad Shoaib Qamar, and Haroon Yousaf Aziz.