*LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday expressedthe apprehension that Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly HamzaShehbaz will flee the country if he is not arrested.*
A Lahore High Court bench was hearing a petition filed by the PML-N leaderseeking extension in his pre-arrest bail.
A NAB lawyer contended before the court that Hamza accumulated billions ofrupees worth of assets whose money trail is unknown, adding enormous sumswere transferred into his mother and brother’s accounts from abroad.
He said the PML-N leader’s arrest is required for investigation,apprehending that he would escape from the country if he is not arrested.
The counsel stated that suspicious transactions worth around Rs500 millionwere found in Hamza’s account. Besides, he added, the accused owned benamiproperties.
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Hamza’s lawyer, however, argued that the corruption watchdog acted againsthis client without concrete evidence. Ill-founded allegations were levelledagainst the PML-N leader to defame him, he added.
He questioned the powers of the watchdog to probe money laundering casessaying the bureau lacked authority to investigate such cases.
