Moonis Elahi, son of PTI President Parvez Elahi, was declared an absconder on Monday by a Lahore accountability court in a case pertaining to allegations of receiving billions in kickbacks in development projects.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) accused Moonis of embezzling money in various development projects and initiated proceedings on Oct 6 to declare former federal minister Moonis Elahi a proclaimed offender, stating that Moonis had been evading arrest and due course of law.

Moonis, who left the country last year after the crackdown on the PTI, faces multiple cases of corruption and money laundering registered against him by the Federal Investigation Agency, the Anti-Corruption Establishment and NAB.

In a hearing presided over by Judge Naseem Ahmad Virk today, the NAB prosecutor, Waris Ali Janjua, was asked by the court to begin the process of confiscating the former federal minister’s properties.

“Neither did he [Moonis] surrender for arrest nor did he join the investigation,” Janjua told the court.

On July 22, 2023, Moonis was declared an absconder in a money laundering case as well. A Lahore district court made the declaration over his continued absence from proceedings in the case filed by the FIA.

The district court had also begun the process to freeze his assets, and bank account and cancel his computerised national identity card (CNIC), passport, and bank accounts.

Moonis and his father Parvez are among several PTI leaders and workers facing legal troubles amid the state’s crackdown on the PTI leadership following the May 9 riots.

Parvez formally joined the party in February this year.