The federal government has placed four names – including that of Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz – on the exit control list (ECL) following approval by the federal cabinet.
According to reports, the names of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Punjab Assembly MPA Salman Shehbaz – who is currently out of the country – and former chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Moeen Aftab have also been placed on the ECL. All four names have been placed on the ECL on the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request.
Meanwhile, the name of former finance minister Miftah Ismail has been placed on the ‘stop list’ while the approval for his name to be placed on the ECL is awaited, interior ministry officials told a private TV channel. According to the interior ministry officials, Ismail was scheduled to fly to London from Karachi on Saturday. The relevant authorities informed the former finance minister regarding the development. NAB is probing Hamza for allegedly owning assets beyond means. He, along with his brother Salman, is also accused of using Rs200 million from public funds to build a bridge linking to the family’s sugar mills. The money was approved by then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Abbasi is accused of awarding a 15-year contract for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal against the rules when he was the petroleum minister in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet. The case was closed by NAB in 2016 but was reopened in 2018. Moeen Aftab is being investigated for alleged embezzlement of Rs 26 billion in PSM funds while Ismail is being probed in connection with the LNG corruption case.