LAHORE: A team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is likely to leave for London in a couple of days to collect evidence there of properties belonging to the Sharif family.
“Since NAB has not yet received a reply from the UK authorities, it has decided to pursue the matter in person,” a source said, adding that the team would make sure its return before Oct 13 to submit a report to the accountability court in Islamabad in connection with the indictment of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and sons Hassan and Hussain.
The ‘Volume-10’ of the Joint Investigation Team report is said to have dealt with the mutual legal business agreements between the Sharif family and different foreign governments.
Meanwhile, NAB has initiated the process of obtaining red warrants for Hassan and Hussain from Interpol. “After receiving the court’s order declaring Hassan and Hussain proclaimed offenders, NAB is writing to the interior ministry to take up the matter with the Interpol for issuance of their red warrants,” the source said.
But there is a big question whether the interior ministry under Ahsan Iqbal, a close aide to Mr Sharif, will put the process on a fast track on the court’s order or opt for delaying tactics. “Since the Supreme Court is directly monitoring the case, the interior minister will have no choice but to promptly proceed against the sons of his party chief,” a NAB official said.
NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Chaudhry Khaliquz Zaman told reporters that since Mr Sharif’s sons had been declared proclaimed offenders, their properties in Pakistan would be attached. He said that once the red warrants for Hassan and Hussain were issued, NAB would take up the matter with the UK authorities for their extradition.
