Shehbaz Sharif faces fresh corruption case

A Pakistani court has launched a fresh corruption case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, officials said on Saturday.

Sharif has been in the National Accountability Bureau's custody since October 5 in another case of alleged corruption related to the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme.

"The NAB ordered the arrest of Shehbaz Sharif in another case of Ramzan Sugar Mills," the spokesperson of the anti-corruption body in Lahore, Muhammed Waqarm, told Efe news.

According to Waqarm, there were accusations that Sharif, during his tenure as head of the government of Punjab province, "used public funds to benefit Ramzan Sugar Mills, which belongs to his family".

The NAB court also summoned his children -- Salman Shehbaz and Hamza Shehbaz -- who are directors of the sugar mill, for investigations into the case.

"Salman did not appear before the court and Hamza Shehbaz appeared and he is now on a pre-arrest bail," the NAB spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the NAB was granted a further 14-day extension in the physical remand of the PML-N President in the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme case.

The anti-graft body had said that Shehbaz Sharif was involved in corruption in the housing scheme during his tenure as the Punjab 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".

However, Shehbaz Sharif has denied the allegations as "false and baseless". -IANS