An approver in the money laundering case filed against PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his family members says he was approached by the CFO (chief financial officer) of the Sharif family’s business empire in 2014 to whiten an amount of Rs600 million, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Friday.

This important progress in the money laundering case came as Yasir Mushtaq made this sensational claim in his statement whose copy has been made public.

According to Yasir, when he told CFO Muhammad Usman that it wasn’t possible for them, the reply was that they would use the bank account of Mushtaq & Company for TT (telegraphic transfer). The amount belonged to Suleman Shehbaz.

He further says they allowed to use their company account due to the years-long business relations and it wasn’t possible to refuse because Suleman was the then chief minister’s son.

The statement says Rs210 million were transferred to their account in that year. The money was then given to Usman through cheques after the transfer of money through each transaction.

Moreover, another account was opened in Bank Alfalah’s Circular Road branch on the insistence of Usman, where Suleman already had an account. It was used for TT to ensure the transaction of over Rs290 million from different accounts.

Yasir also says that Suleman established Waqar Trading Company in the name of his employee Tahir Naqvi and the account had been used for transferring Rs100 million in the name Mushtaq & Company.   

To give legal status to the money, Suleman signed two bogus agreements and they loaned Rs300 million to him under the first of these. But the amount actually belonged to Suleman and only their account was used for the related transactions.

Meanwhile, the approver claims that they became part of this episode with the lust of business and whitening the money.

On the other hand, an accountability court judge, Jawad-ul-Hassan, sought a reply from the Home Department, IG Prisons and the Kot Lakhpat jail superintendent on the issue of providing physiotherapy facility to imprisoned PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif due to the chronic backache he has been suffering from for years.

The application filed through his counsels Amjad Pervaiz and Muhammad Nawaz also requested the court to ensure provision of guards when he is transported for the hearing of different cases from Lahore’s main prison.