Our Correspondent
Lahore
An accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday confirmed the National Accountability Bureau Lahore’s orders to freeze properties owned by PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, his sons Hamza Shahbaz and Salman Shahbaz, and other family members in connection with an investigation involving them in the income beyond means and money laundering case.
The court’s confirmation means that Shahbaz and his family members can neither sell their assets nor will the profits gained from the family’s properties go to them, according to NAB special prosecutor Hafiz Asadullah.
The decision comes a week after NAB Lahore Director General Shahzad Saleem froze 23 properties of Shehbaz, his sons and other family members in the income beyond means and money laundering case under Section 12 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
The NAB orders were to remain in place for 15 days, during which NAB filed an application in the accountability court for their confirmation. “Having examined evidence collected so far during investigation, it is found that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused — Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza, Suleman and other Shehbaz Sharif’s family members — have committed the said offences. These properties, therefore, are attached under Section 12 of the NAO 1999 till the disposal of the reference by the accountability court,” an official had earlier told media.
