NAB arrests Maryam Nawaz from Kot Lakpath jail

LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former premier Nawaz Sharif, has been arrested by National Accountability Bureau with regards to her involvement in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, ARY News reported on Thursday.

As per details, the bureau had summoned the vice president of Pakistan Muslim League on Thursday (today) to probe into the corruption case. However, Maryam excused from appearing before the bureau.

A team of NAB officials took Maryam into custody when she arrived at Kot Lakpath jail today to meet his incarcerated father. The PML-N leader has been shifted to the bureau’s headquarter.

Sources informed ARY News that NAB officials had attained the arrest warrants for Maryam Nawaz following her no-show before the investigation team.

Yousaf Abbas, a cousin of Maryam Nawaz Sharif, has also been detained by NAB in the very case.

Reliable sources said a questionnaire was also sent to the PML-N leader seeking details in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case regarding how and where the shares were divided since the inception of the mill in 1985.

In the last appearance before the accountability body, Maryam had failed to satisfy the National Accountability Bureau and tried to lead the inquiry officials astray with unneeded information and no clarity in the answers she provided, sources revealed.

Chaudhry Sugar Mills case:

In a press conference, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said the Sharif Family had used Chaudhry Sugar Mills for money-laundering and illegal transfer of its shares.

During the probe, it was revealed that a $15 million loan was taken on the pretext to set up the mill despite the fact that it had already been established before the loan was acquired, the special assistant claimed.

He added that the loan was never transferred to Pakistan as shown by the record of the State Bank of Pakistan.

“Chaudhry Sugar Mills remained a hub of money laundering,” Akbar said.

He said more than Rs7 million worth of shares were transferred to PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz in 2008 through mill’s shares, which were later transferred to Yousaf Abbas Sharif in 2010.