Shehbaz only lodged complaint against British newspaper instead filing lawsuit: Shahzad Akbar

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar has said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz Sharif had only lodged a complaint against British newspaper instead of filing a lawsuit, ARY News reported on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Shahzad Akbar once again challenged PML-N leader to serve him a legal notice.

“I can say with all confidence that he will never take this matter to a court in the United Kingdom,” he added.

He said Shehbaz Sharif should have gone to British courts as claimed by him, adding that he will himself present the evidence against Shahbaz Sharif in London courts.

He said the journalist who published the story in Daily Mail still stands by it.

Replying a question over the arrest of Irfan Siddique, the special assistant said Prime Minister has taken serious notice of regarding Irfan Siddiqui who was presented in handcuffs in court.

He said the inquiry is being conducted against the violators.

Read More: Shehbaz family involved in money laundering of $26 million: Shahzad Akbar

On July 14, a British newspaper had made startling revelations in its report that British authorities have decided to initiate a probe into the millions of Pounds funds the UK sent to the government of Shehbaz Sharif as an aid.

The report claimed that the paper was given exclusive access to some of the results of a high-level probe ordered by the government of Pakistan. The paper said it was also able to interview key witnesses held on remand in jail, including a UK citizen Aftab Mehmood.

He claims he laundered millions on behalf of Shahbaz’s family from a nondescript office in Birmingham without attracting suspicion from Britain’s financial regulators.

The paper said that Shehbaz and his family were embezzling tens of millions of pounds of public money and laundering it in Britain.

Read More: ‘I stand by my story against Shehbaz Sharif’, says British journalist

They are convinced that some of the allegedly stolen money came from DFID-funded aid projects.

The report said that legal documents allege that Shehbaz’s son-in-law received about £1 million from a fund established to rebuild the lives of earthquake victims, to which DFID gave £54 million from UK taxpayers.

The PM’s special assistant had earlier challenged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz Sharif that he will personally bring each TT (telegraphic transfer) that was “fraudulently sent in the name of poor labourers”.