Maryam Nawaz' physical remand extended in Chaudhry Sugar Mills Case

LAHORE: An accountability court on Wednesday extended physical remand of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz vice President, Maryam Nawaz and her cousin Yousaf Abbas for a week, in a case pertaining to Chaudhry Sugar Mills.

The NAB team presented Maryam and Abbas before the court of accountability judge Ameer Muhammad Khan as their 14 days remand expired today.

The hearing was adjourned for a while as workers of the PML-N forcibly entered Judicial complex and the courtroom to meet their leader.

The PML-N workers continued to chant slogans in the courtroom despite several warnings by the judge.

Later, at the resumption of the hearing, NAB prosecutor said Yousaf Abbas failed to answer that who had transferred the amount of Rs 230 million in his account in 2013 from Dubai. He said that Maryam also failed in answering queries of the NAB team.

“We need more time to complete investigation in the case”, the prosecutor said and pleaded the court to extend the remand of the accused for 14 days.

However, the court extended physical remand for seven days only and asked the NAB officials to present the accused again on September 25.

NAB had arrested Maryam and Yousaf on August 8.

On Aug 23, sources within the anti-graft watchdog had claimed that the bureau will soon write to relevant banks and other institutions, asking them to freeze the movable and immovable assets owned by both the accused.

Chaudhry Sugar Mills case:

In a press conference, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar had 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 had added that the loan was never transferred to Pakistan as shown by the record of the State Bank of Pakistan.

He had 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.