The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said on Wednesday that it has substantial evidence against former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, adding that the investigation in the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam and other cases is in “final phase”.
In an interview with Kamran Khan, NAB DG Saleem Shehzad said, “Shehbaz Sharif lies when he says he has not committed a corruption of even a single penny.”
The NAB official added that the case against Shehbaz has a lot of substance. Moreover, he accused Saad Rafique of using his influence on the prosecutor’s witnesses.
Shehbaz, who was arrested by NAB on October 5 in the Ashiana Housing case, told the court that he has been investigated for more than a month now but not even a penny’s worth of corruption could be proven against him.
An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday extended his transit remand till November 10 in the case.
EDEN OFFERS PLEA BARGAIN:
NAB’s Shehzad said the anti-graft body has received a plea bargain appeal in the Eden Housing Society scam which involves former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s son-in-law, Murtaza Amjad who was arrested in Dubai.
Shehzad stated that the Eden Housing Scheme has offered a plea bargain of Rs13 billion. “Plea bargain is a court order, not an executive order. Without court approval, NAB cannot do the plea bargain,” the DG said.
The total affectees of the Eden scam are 11,500, according to a report.
The bureau has estimated the property seized from the Eden group to be worth up to Rs20b, claiming that it would compensate the affectees soon.
In June, the PTI had written a letter to NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal, asking him to launch an investigation against ex-CJP Chaudhry and his family for allegedly receiving benefits in the scam of the failed Eden Housing Society.