LAHORE: Pakistan's anti-corruption body has initiated another investigation against jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam for their alleged involvement in money laundering and having income beyond means, media reports said Saturday.
The development came a day after an anti-corruption court dismissed a plea filed against the 45-year-old vice president of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) for submitting a fake document in the high-profile Avenfield Apartments case.
Sharif, 69, is serving a seven-year prison term at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore since December 24, 2018, in the Al-Azizia case.
The NAB launched the investigation against Maryam, her father Nawaz, uncle Shahbaz Sharif, cousins Hamza Shahbaz and Yousuf Abbas and others for owning the Chaudhry Sugar Mills Limited, Dawn news reported.
The NAB has reportedly traced numerous telegraphic transfers worth millions of rupees by the Sharif family and the end beneficiaries included Maryam and other owners of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills, the report said. "The bureau may send a questionnaire to Ms Nawaz instead of summoning her," a source told Dawn.
The money laundering evidence against the owners of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills surfaced during a probe against Shahbaz and his sons Hamza and Salman in income beyond means and money laundering case, the report said.
Shahbaz has vowed to fight "fascist tactics" of the Imran Khan government against the opposition. "We are going to observe July 25 a black day across the country," PML-N Punjab Information Secretary Azma Bokhari said.
Maryam was sentenced to seven years in jail in July 2018 in connection with the case that pertains to the ownership of the Sharif family's posh apartments at Avenfield House, London.
The sentence was, however, suspended by the Islamabad High Court. The case was one of the three filed by NAB last year in light of the Supreme Court's verdict against Sharif in the Panama Papers case.