Pakistan’s anti-graft body quizzes Maryam Nawaz in corruption cases

Pakistan's anti-graft body on Wednesday grilled jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter and PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz in cases related to money laundering and income beyond means.

A combined investigation team of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) quizzed Maryam for an hour at its provincial headquarters in Lahore.

The NAB launched investigation against Maryam along with her father Sharif and uncle Shehbaz Sharif and others for owning the M/s Chaudhry Sugar Mills Ltd that had "dubious business transactions".

A NAB official told PTI that Maryam did not bring with her any record of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills being a major shareholder.

"She also evaded all questions and asked the investigators to give her a written questionnaire of which she would reply after consulting her legal team," the official said.

He said seeing her non-cooperation the NAB has decided to re-summon early next month.

The NAB has reportedly traced numerous telegraphic transfers (TTs) worth millions of rupees by the Sharif family and the end beneficiaries included Maryam, the major shareholder of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.

The NAB asked her to specify the channel through which payment was received for exports, including banking accounts where payment was received, country of export, quality of sugar exported. She was also asked to provide details of investment/loans given to M/s Shamim Sugar Mills Ltd, all TTs sent.

Earlier, the Islamabad accountability court had rejected a NAB's application seeking legal proceedings against Maryam for using a bogus trust deed in the Avenfield properties case.

She has been on bail in the Avenfield properties case while her father is serving seven years imprisonment in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail since December 24, 2018 when an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed in the wake of the apex court's July 28, 2017 order in Panama Papers case.

On Tuesday, an anti-corruption body grilled Sharif in jail in a 33-year-old case related to an illegal land allotment allegedly by him.

Sharif, being the chief minister of Punjab province in 1986, is accused of allotting over 14,000 kanal government land to an individual, Dewan Ghulam Qutab, allegedly in violation of a Lahore High Court (LHC) order.

Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing and allege that the corruption cases against them were politically motivated.

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