Former PPP minister Memon indicted in assets reference

KARACHI: An accountability court in Karachi on Monday indicted Pakistan Peoples Party MP and former Sindh minister Sharjeel Memon and other suspects in an assets beyond declared income reference.

Memon is accused of owning assets beyond known sources of income and was probed under Section 9(v) of the NAB Ordinance.

The section says: “If [a public office holder] or any of his dependents or benamidars owns, possesses, or has any right or title in any movable or immovable property or pecuniary resources disproportionate to his known sources of income, which he cannot reasonably account for.”

Memon and other suspects turned up before the accountability court after it resumed hearing. They pleaded innocence when read the charges.

The court directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present its witnesses at the next hearing to record their statements.

The court then adjourned the proceedings until November 10.

According to the dirty money watchdog, the former minister allegedly amassed assets to the tune of Rs2.43 billion through corrupt means. The agency filed a reference against him, his wife Sadaf Sharjeel, mother Zeenat Inam and others in 2019.

In addition to the assets reference, Memon is facing a number of other graft cases, including one related to Rs 5.76 billion embezzlement in the Sindh Information Department.

He was arrested on charges of awarding the advertisements at exorbitant rates in 2007 and was later released on bail in June 2019.

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