Shehbaz Sharif's son-in-law declared 'proclaimed offender'

An accountability court on Tuesday declared Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif's son-in-law a "proclaimed offender" after he failed to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a corruption case.

The court's decision came following a request by Pakistan's anti-corruption body NAB. Imran Ali Yousaf is accused of receiving Rs 12 million graft money from Ikram Naveed, the former CEO of the Punjab Power Development Company (PPDC), and is the subject of a NAB probe, Dawn online reported.

Yousaf appeared before NAB investigators in April but has since missed his scheduled hearings and left the country for London.

The NAB, which in July requested the Interior Ministry to extradite Yousaf via Interpol, on Tuesday told the court that "warrant of arrest against the accused has been issued by NAB chairman".

"As per the investigation officer, the accused has gone underground and is not traceable," the body said. It also summoned Shehbaz Sharif on August 20.

The daily cited a source as saying that Sharif's son-in-law was also accused of "getting Naveed appointed as PPDC CEO who allegedly committed massive corruption".

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had already carried out a probe against Naveed and Yousaf in 2016. It declared Naveed guilty of embezzling Rs 450 million.

The ACE in its investigation found that Naveed had purchased 19 properties in his and his family members' names and also unearthed his and his relatives properties worth over Rs 1 billion.

--IANS

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