LAHORE – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmed and a close confidante of Sharif family, Javed Kiani at its Lahore office today to probe Sharif family’s London properties.
The national graft-buster has issued summons regarding corruption references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s family, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and others in line with Supreme Court’s July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.
Apart from Javed Kiani and Saeed Ahmed, who recorded their statement before the six-member Joint Investigation Team, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has also been summoned tomorrow to record his statement.
The team, headed by NAB Lahore Director General Shehzad Saleem, had also summoned Nawaz Sharif and his sons on Sunday but they did not show up.
According to sources privy to the developments, Sharifs did not give a hoot to NAB taking the plea that a review petition against Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification had been filed in the apex court.
‘My client Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has been apprised of the above-cited notice today and instructed me to convey his inability to appear before the Combined Investigation Team as has already filed a review petition against the judgment dated 28.07.2017,’ read the letter forwarded by Nawaz Sharif.
A day earlier, the bureau had written to the Supreme Court, seeking permission to record the statements of members of Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT), GEO News reported.
The initiation of NAB references follows the judgment of the top court on July 28 in which Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as prime minister for concealing his employment with Capital FZE, a firm owned by his son Hassan.
In its order, that changed the political landscape of the country with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi assuming the charge of chief executive, the top court also requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan Nsairul Mul to appoint a monitoring judge to oversee proceedings of NAB and the accountability court.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan, a member of the Panama case bench as well as the special implementation bench former later, was made the monitoring judge by the Supreme Court.
