Sharjeel being probed for embezzlement of millions: NAB prosecutor

Referring to an enquiry against former information minister Sharjeel Memon, National Accountability Bureau prosecutor Noor Muhammad Dayo said on Thursday that the bureau was investigating the embezzlement of millions of rupees in the provincial information department.

Dayo said an inquiry was initiated against Memon to determine his involvement in corruption in the department.

During the hearing on Thursday on PPP leader’s pre-arrest bail, Dayo informed the two-judge bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) that an inquiry was being conducted into the embezzlement.

The SHC directed Memon’s counsel to inform the court of his client’s scheduled arrival and flight details so that an order could be passed on his protective bail application. Sharjeel Memon’s name is currently on the Exit Control List (ECL). The court put off a separate petition filed by Memon challenging placement of his name on the ECL.

The next hearings in both cases have yet to be scheduled.

Memon, who is currently residing in Dubai, fears arrest by NAB authorities on the basis of graft inquiries and a bar imposed on his travelling abroad if and when he returns to the country, his counsel stated in an earlier hearing.

The PPP MPA from Tharparkar, who had filed two separate petitions late last year through his counsel, stated in the petitions that since law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies had begun a crackdown on political leaders, he had come to know through the media that NAB had also initiated an inquiry against him with regards to alleged corruption during his recent tenure as information minister.

Memon’s counsel said that neither he was involved in corrupt practices, nor he had ever misused power and alleged that attempts were being made to involve the former minister in false cases for offences he had not committed.

The counsel asked the court to restrain NAB authorities from arresting him in connection with any inquiry or taking any coercive action after which the bench directed the NAB authorities and others to provide details of inquiries initiated against the PPP leader.