KARACHI – National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will produce former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Memon and leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader at the accountability court today.
Memon was arrested on Monday by law enforcers from the premises of the Sindh High Court (SHC) after his interim bail was rejected in a Rs 6 billion graft case.
Sources state that an armored vehicle had arrived at the NAB headquarters to escort Memon to court.
The former minister was escorted from the court premises by Rangers and NAB personnel and was surrounded by his lawyers and other supporters. As he was leaving the court, resistance was offered by his supporters leading to an exchange of hot words with NAB officials.
Eleven other accused in the case were also arrested by the bureau.
Sharjeel Memon arrested by NAB in corruption case
“The accused persons are charged for fraud of Rs. 5,766,479,766 purportedly paid to several advertising agencies for awareness campaigns between 2013 and 2015,” said a press release by NAB.
Memon was trying to avoid being detained by NAB after the cancellation of his bail extension plea by the Sindh High court earlier on Monday.
Corruption case
NAB launched a crackdown against corrupt political figures and bureaucrats as part of the Karachi operation, Memon had fled the country in 2015 to Dubai just before the crackdown.
The suspects are accused of corruption worth Rs5.76 billion in the award of advertisements of the Sindh government’s awareness campaigns in the electronic media.
Sharjeel Memon was arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) immediately after his plane landed from Dubai in Islamabad. However, the authorities released him after interrogation.
The other accused in the case include bureaucrats, officials of the information department and members of private advertising agencies.
Memon claims the charges against him are politically motivated.
