LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore in a letter to NAB Headquarters recommended to place the name of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif on the Exit Control List (ECL), in money laundering case including co-accused.
The request was made to place Sharif’s name on the no-fly list as he is being investigated in an assets beyond means case and is accused of money laundering.
NAB Lahore wrote a letter to the DG Operations NAB Headquarters recommending that the Shehbaz Sharif’s name be placed on the ECL as there were several investigations against him, his sons Hamza Shehbaz, Suleman Shehbaz and others.
“All of the accused are being probed in assets beyond means and money laundering cases,” NAB mentioned in the letter.
NAB Lahore in the letter stated that via order dated 22-04-2021, the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to the accused Shehbaz, whereas no orders regarding the placement of his name on the ECL or asking the PML-N leader to surrender his passport have been issued.
“As the presence of the accused is required to face the trial, it is recommended that the name of Mian Shehbaz Sharif be placed on the ECL for the smooth trial of the reference no 22/2020,” the letter read.
The NAB HQ was earlier asked to place Shehbaz Sharif’s name on the ECL and whereas the Ministry of Interior was requested through letter No 3-1(1)285/L/WII/NAB/Dy Dir (ECL) dated 19.02.19 and resultantly Ministry of Interior vide letter No12/46/2019-ECL dated 21.02.2019 confirmed the placement of accused Shehbaz Sharif on the ECL, the letter further mentioned.
The letter further stated that thereafter the accused Mian Shehbaz Sharif filed a writ petition with the LHC for removal of his name from the ECL and a subsequent LHC order set aside the memorandum of the Ministry of Interior.
In this regard another request for the placement of Shehbaz Sharif’s name on the ECL was forwarded to the NAB HQ in Islamabad, the letter stated.
In response, the prosecutor-general NAB HQ, in a letter, had conveyed that instead of placing the name of the accused on the ECL, it has approved to place, before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the material collected against the accused to place his name on the ECL.
The suspects were also guilty of the offence of money laundering, with the case pending before an accountability court in Lahore, it said. The letter stated that the names of all persons except Shehbaz Sharif had been placed on the ECL and 11 other accused with Shehbaz Sharif were facing trial.
