Pakistan’s anti-corruption body was on Tuesday granted a 14-day extension in the remand of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) President Shehbaz Sharif in a multi-billion rupee housing scam case.
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The former Punjab Chief Minister, who has been in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody since October 6, was presented in the accountability court in Lahore amid tight security as his 10-day remand in the Ashiana Housing Scheme case ended. He will now be in NAB’s remand till October 30, Dawn online reported.
The anti-graft body said Sharif was involved in corruption in the housing scheme during his tenure as the Chief Minister from 2013 to May 2018. It said that he had “misused his powers” and granted contracts to unqualified companies of his friends, causing “losses of millions of rupees to the national exchequer”.
Sharif was arrested earlier this month inside the anti-graft watchdog’s Lahore office where he was summoned to record his statement in connection with the Punjab Saaf Pani Company case. He denies the graft allegations, describing these as “false and baseless”.
During the Tuesday hearing, the leader said that he had not misused his seat or done any corrupt practice. “This is a false accusation, I have saved the country’s money and put it in the national exchequer.” “I was called for Saaf Pani and arrested for Ashiana,” he told the court.
Later, talking to Geo News outside the accountability court, Sharif said: “They could not prove a penny’s worth corruption against me. I call NAB officers myself to question me.”
The bureau was also investigating Shehbaz Sharif in the clean water project scam, Paragon Housing Society scandal and Punjab Power Company corruption cases.
