The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Lahore has prepared a reference against senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif and has sent it to Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal for his approval, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.

Quoting sources, the channel reported that the reference contained charges of money laundering and having assets beyond known sources of income.

Quoting the reference, the sources told that the NAB chairman had approved inquiry against Asif on September 4, 2018, and that he had been arrested on December 29, 2020.

The reference reads that when the PML-N leader became a senator in 1991, he had a home spreading over 3,000 square yards of land while in 1993 his assets were valued at Rs5.1 million.

The reference further reads that by 2018 after holding several public offices, Asif’s assets’ value reached Rs404 million.

“The PML-N leader earned Rs210.393 million of income between 1987 and 2018, while the expenditures he showed during the same period stand at Rs430.95million,” the reference says.

Similarly, the reference adds that Asif drew Rs20.93million in salary during the same period.

The reference further tells that he earned Rs80.22million from his business during the period under review.

Similarly, the PML-N leader made several assets in the names of his family members and did investment, while he showed Dubai’s EMCO firm as the main source of his income. “However, he did not give the proof of salary transfer from the company to his bank accounts,” the reference says, and adds that he, in connivance with the company, managed to obtain Iqama (work permit).

The reference reads that Khawaja Asif has still to answer the allegations of money laundering levelled against him.

Reported by Usman Aleem