LAHORE - A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday dismissed a post-arrest bail petition filed by Shahid Rafiq, an alleged front man of PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz in assets beyond means case.
Headed by Justice Baqar Ali Najafi, the two-member bench dismissed the petition after hearing arguments from both the sides.
The defence counsel pleaded that his client had been accused of making transactions of millions of rupees into the accounts of Sharif family from the United Kingdom.
He further said that the accusations against Shahid Rafiq were baseless, fabricated and ill-founded. He requested the bench to order the release of his client on bail.
However, the NAB prosecutor opposed the bail request made by the suspect, saying that he was involved in transferring ill-gotten money into the Sharif family’s accounts.
Mushtaq Chene, another alleged front man of Hamza, has become an approver after he was presented before the National Accountability Bureau chairman in Islamabad. The NAB chairman had accepted his application to turn an approver in the case.
The term of the physical remand of Hamza Shahbaz, the main suspect in the money laundering and assets beyond means case, will expire July 24.
As per NAB, Hamza has failed to satisfy interrogators regarding purchase of a plot in Model Town worth Rs140 million. He has also failed to justify a sum of Rs55 million transferred to his personal account of Saudi Pak Bank branch in 2005, the NAB says.
Judicial remand of ex-minister, accomplices extended in mining case
An accountability court on Wednesday extended until July 31 the judicial remand of former Punjab minister Sibtain Khan and three others in Chiniot mining contract case.
Sibtain Khan, former secretary Imtiaz Ahmed, former manager Muhammad Aslam, and former chief inspector mines Abdul Sattar were produced before Special Judge Accountability Court Ameer Muhammad Khan on the expiry of their remand term. The NAB officials told the court that the bureau had not filed investigation report yet. On which the court directed the NAB officials to file the investigation report by the next date of hearing.
Sibtain resigned from his position after being nabbed bureau on June 15 on charges of awarding a multi-billion-dollar contract to a fake company in 2007.