The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday approached an accountability court in Karachi seeking a No-Objection Certificate (NoC) to arrest imprisoned former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon.

Memon, a former PPP minister, is being held at Karachi's Central Jail as he faces trial in a Rs5 billion corruption reference regarding the award of Sindh government’s electronic media awareness campaigns from 2013 to 2015.

NAB wishes to shift his custody to its provincial headquarters in Sindh in connection with a new inquiry launched into ownership of assets allegedly illegally acquired by the former minister.

NAB's investigating officer (IO) moved an application in court stating that the competent authority recently issued a warrant for the arrest of Memon in connection with the new inquiry.

The court was requested to issue an NoC for the execution of Memon’s arrest warrant inside the prison where he is already detained, to shift his custody to NAB headquarters for questioning.

The IO referred to a statement given to NAB by Sharjeel Memon’s detained personal secretary, Izhar Hussain, who was arrested last month.

The secretary allegedly disclosed having abetted the former minister in illegal acquisition of residential and commercial properties in Karachi and also acting as his ‘frontman’ to collect illegal gratification from various departments.

However, since the court's time was over, the judge, Dr Sherbano Karim, fixed the matter on June 22 to hear arguments on the IO's plea from the prosecutor and defence counsel.

NAB had also detained Muhammad Sohail, said to be an employee of a money exchange firm, last month. Sohail allegedly laundered billions of rupees of Memon's ill-gotten money to the United Arab Emirates via hawala/hundi from 2012 onwards. He was remanded into NAB custody until Jun 24.