Shehbaz Sharif serves legal notice to Daily Mail over embezzlement claims
Daily Mail reporter David Rose has also been made party in the notice.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Friday has sent a legal notice to British newspaper Daily Mail, online news site Mail Online, and its journalist David Rose for accusing him of embezzlement in earthquake victims aid in an article published on Sunday, 14 July 2019.
According to details, Daily Mail reporter David Rose has also been made party in the notice that termed Daily Mail’s claim of misusing aid money as baseless.
Will take every step to save my reputation, fame and character, Shehbaz Sharif said in the notice. PML-N president said that denied the allegations in the strongest possible terms stating that David Rose made false allegations which states that Shehbaz misappropriated UK taxpayer‘s money in the form of DFID aid intended for the affectees of 2005 earthquake.
Shehbaz Sharif expressed, “I am utterly appalled by these allegations. It is disgusting for the Mail to claim that I stole money from a fund for earthquake victims. Clearly were there any evidence in support of this, or any of the other allegations contained in the article against me, then I would have been arrested and charged."
Leader of the Opposition said that it appeared to be another politically motivated campaign against him and his family by the the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government. He added that according to the article, Prime Minister Imran Khan granted the journalist “exclusive access to some of the results of a high-level probe including a ‘confidential investigation report’ and highly unusually access to “interview key witnesses held on remand in jail”.
He continued saying that he was living in the United Kingdom in exile when the earthquake happened in 2005.
Shehbaz Sharif concluded expressing that he value his professional and personal reputation very highly and will remove these allegations by pursuing these claims through the courts of England and Wales if necessary.
On July 14, Britain-based publication Daily Mail had exposed alleged money laundering scandal of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif from the UK government aid for earthquake victims in Pakistan.
According to a confidential investigation report seen by Daily Mail, millions of pounds were transferred into the bank accounts of Shehbaz’s family members, including his wife, children and a son-in-law.
It states to have interviewed key witnesses held on remand in jail, including a UK citizen Aftab Mehmood.
Mehmood revealed that he had laundered millions on behalf of Shehbaz’s family from a nondescript office in Birmingham – without attracting suspicion from Britain’s financial regulators, who inspected his books regularly.
Allegedly, stolen millions were laundered in Birmingham and then allegedly transferred to Shahbaz’s family’s accounts by UK branches of banks including Barclays and HSBC, the report stated.
It further said that by 2018, total assets of Sharif family had grown to about £200 million. Among other properties, Shehbaz owns a 53,000 sq ft palace in Lahore, which has its own large security force.
For rehabilitating and rebuild lives of the poor, the DFID gave £54 million from UK taxpayers; and the legal documents allege that Shehbaz’s son-in-law received about £1 million from that fund.
