Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has forwarded a request to the Interior Ministry seeking travel restrictions for the members of the Sharif family.

A day after the accountability court handed down imprisonment sentence to Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (r) Safdar, the anti-graft body forwarded a summary to the interior ministry seeking to enforce ECL restrictions for the co-accused in the Avenfield reference.

In its letter, the accountability watchdog pleaded that Captain (r) Safdar, the son-in-law of the former premier Nawaz Sharif, could flee the country at any time, so his name should be placed on the Exit Control List, blocking any of his offshore visits.

Earlier on Friday, Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir handed a 10-year sentence and £8 million (Rs1.29 billion) to Pakistan’s former prime minister in a corruption reference pertaining to Sharif family’s Avenfield apartment in London, UK. In the detailed decision, the court also sentenced Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, to seven years in jail for forgery and making assets through illegal sources in the landmark decision. She has been ordered to pay a fine of £2 million (Rs 320 million).

Moreover, the judge ordered confiscation of the property in question, suggesting the government to do legislation to bring plundered money back to the country. Capt (r) Safdar Awan, who is the son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif, was handed one-year jail term for cheating. He is currently in Pakistan campaigning for elections, however, he has been barred from electoral politics for a span of 10 years.

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.