Probe against Nawaz on basis of media reports, NAB clarifies

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau on Wednesday clarified that it had ordered a probe against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on the basis of media reports. 

NAB ordered on Tuesday an inquiry against Nawaz and others for allegedly laundering $4.9 billion to India. According to a NAB statement, the chairman of the bureau took notice of media report which made the claims citing a World Bank report. In a press release issued on September 21, 2016, the State Bank of Pakistan had rejected the estimates of $4.9 billion remittances from Pakistan to India.

"NAB rejects the impression that its objective was victimization or hurting someone," said the statement issued by the anti-graft body, reiterating that the institution does not believe in victimization.  

According to NAB, a column in a local publication had cited the World Bank report Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 to claim that $4.9 billion remittances were remitted to India.

The media report had claimed that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former finance minister Ishaq Dar and former governor of state bank Ashraf Mehmood Wathra had remitted the amount to Dubai from where it was sent to India through former deputy governor of state bank Saeed Ahmed. 

The statement further said the bureau was investigating the media report. It said that any investigation pertaining to money laundering falls under NAB's jurisdiction. 

The institution is resolved to end corruption while remaining under its legal jurisdiction, said the statement. 

The World Bank had clarified on Tuesday that its Remittances and Migration Report did not mention money laundering or name individuals.

'NAB's probe amounts to pre-poll rigging'

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi asserted earlier today that NAB's recent decision to launch a money-laundering probe against Nawaz amounts to "pre-poll rigging".

While speaking in the National Assembly, the premier remarked that a serious allegation has been leveled against the former prime minister.

"In the current [political] conditions, this falls within the ambit of pre-poll rigging," he remarked.