Pak officials raid Nawaz Sharif’s properties, mother flies to London

Lahore, Feb. 15: Pakistan anti-corruption officials raided the properties of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Saturday to collect evidence in a money laundering case, even as his mother left for London to be with her son ahead of his cardiac treatment.

An accountability court here has already exempted the 69-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo from appearing before it in the money laundering case on medical grounds and adjourned the hearing till February 28.

“Nawaz Sharif’s mother Shamim Bibi left for London to be with her son while he undergoes heart treatment,” PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted on Saturday.

Aurangzeb said Bibi had been advised not to travel because of her age, 90, and illnesses but she expressed her wish to be present during her son’s treatment.

On Saturday, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials raided businesses

and properties of the Sharif family in search of evidence related to the money laundering charges.

The accountability bureau has accused Sharif of being a direct beneficiary of Chaudhry Sugar Mills and his daughter, Maryam, who was arrested in connection with the case in August along with her cousin Yousuf Abbas, of holding over 12 million shares in the sugar mills.

The three-time premier is undergoing treatment in London for coronary artery disease. Sharif was on November 4 last year granted bail on humanitarian grounds by the Lahore High Court in the case.

The former prime minister left for London on November 19 in an air ambulance. Sharif is suffering from “complex multi-vessel coronary artery disease and substantial ischemic and threatened myocardium for which he is due to undergo surgery,” says his personal physician Dr Adnan Khan.