'NAB given evidence of telegraphic transfers to Maryam's account from Hill Metal Establishment'

Published August 2, 2019
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar addressing a press conference on Friday. — DawnNewsTV
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar addressing a press conference on Friday. — DawnNewsTV

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Friday said he had written to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) with evidence of several telegraphic transfers (TTs) from Hill Metal Establishment (HME) in Saudi Arabia to PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz.

While addressing a press conference, Akbar also shared some documents which he said detailed the transfers from HME to the PML-N vice president.

At the start of the press conference, Akbar alleged that over 85 per cent of the declared profit of Hill Metal Establishment went to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, of which a share was "gifted" to his daughter Maryam.

Akbar recalled that Nawaz and his sons, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz, had been accused in the Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment reference, and that Nawaz had been given a seven-year sentence in the case.

Read: Nawaz Sharif handed 7 years in Al-Azizia reference, taken to Adiala jail

The reference pertained to the Sharifs being unable to justify the source of funds provided to set up Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment (HME) in Saudi Arabia.

While addressing the press conference today, Akbar said that an important factor that was as yet unexplored in this reference was that payments were made to Maryam by HME. He said that a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the case had identified some payments made to Maryam, but the details of those had not been available earlier.

"Now they are available," he said, as he began to share documents which allegedly showed TTs from HME to Maryam's accounts.

He said that these included the 'Form R', in which the beneficiary takes ownership that the money being transferred is in their knowledge and is coming for a specified purpose.

The special assistant to the premier said that this included a TT of Rs14 million to Maryam's MCB account in 2008, in which the purpose specified was 'investment'; another TT for Rs19 million and one more in 2016 of Rs9.9 million from HME to her Habib Bank account in the bank's Jati Umrah Sharif Education City branch.

After disclosing details of the transfers, Akbar said he had written to NAB and attached the 'evidence' to it.

Akbar said NAB may not have seen this "additional documentary evidence" before, adding that the authority could determine if there was a need for further investigation or probe into the matter.

"Any next step has to be taken by NAB, [we] have shared evidence with them and hope that they will further investigate it," he said.

Opinion

Editorial

Reflection time
Updated 25 Jun, 2026

Reflection time

Israel is the biggest source of instability in the Middle East, and it is high time the US ended its blind support to Tel Aviv, if it genuinely wants peace in the region.
Raised temperatures
25 Jun, 2026

Raised temperatures

THE fraught situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir requires immense patience and cool heads. Temperatures are raised on...
Debatable remedy
25 Jun, 2026

Debatable remedy

THE Pakistan Psychiatric Society’s challenge to the Federal Shariat Court’s ruling on attempted suicide deserves...
Pezeshkian’s visit
Updated 24 Jun, 2026

Pezeshkian’s visit

Perhaps a good place to start would be the resumption of work on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline.
Telecom bill
24 Jun, 2026

Telecom bill

THERE is now no question about it: the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) (Amendment) Bill of 2026 is a...
Updating Islamabad
24 Jun, 2026

Updating Islamabad

ISLAMABAD is growing rapidly. Its planning, however, remains stuck in bureaucratic limbo. Despite years of ...