‘Was not questioned about corruption of a single rupee,’ Maryam tells accountability court – Pakistan

The Vice President of PML-N, Maryam Nawaz, on Wednesday rejected the investigation report of the National Office of Accountability (NAB) that was presented before an accountability court, saying that the anti-corruption control body had not questioned it on "corruption of a single rupee"

Maryam appeared before an accountability court in Lahore for a hearing on the corruption case of Chaudhry Sugar Mills, where she was arrested last month along with her cousin Yousuf Abbas. NAB appealed to the court to grant a 15-day extension in his physical detention, but he was granted a seven-day extension.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that Chaudhry Sugar Mills has been registered with the Pakistan Securities and Exchange Commission since 1992 and was established from an investment of Rs700 million, of which Rs400m was borrowed from a bank.

He said the factories received a $ 15 million loan from offshore companies owned by the family of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and added that the liability control agency was collecting records of Maryam's income and taxes, as well as data on the companies Offshore Sharif family. According to the prosecutor, Maryam and Abbas had not given a clear answer about the $ 15 million loan.

The investigation officer told the court that Rs900m were transferred in cash in two bank accounts belonging to Chaudhry Sugar Mills. He said the name of the person who transferred the money was unknown. The defendant states that the person was his employee but that he had not submitted his record, the IO added.

The lawyer of Maryam and Abbas described the report as "contrary to the facts" and argued that the transfer of money to the accounts "is not a crime." He said that NAB had no reason to request an extension in pretrial detention.

While talking to reporters in court, Maryam said: "In the last 42 days, I was not interrogated about the corruption of a single rupee."

"They keep asking why my grandfather transferred his business to me. I told them 100 times that a person would transfer shares of his property to his own children, not his neighbors."

She asked why NAB had arrested her if they had no relevant documents. "How can a person present documents while under arrest?

"I was arrested for political reasons because I was conducting demonstrations," he said.

Later, while talking to the media, Abbas complained that they had been eating food provided by the prison, despite the fact that the rest of the prisoners were allowed to have homemade meals.

"This represents [NAB’s] littleness, "he said.

Maryam added: "If you think I'll make a request, you're wrong."