Sharjeel Memon, others sent to jail till Nov 4 in Rs5.7bn corruption case
KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Memon, along with 11 other suspects, has been sent to jail till November 4 in the Rs5.7bn corruption case.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) produced the former Sindh information minister and other suspects in an accountability court earlier today, from where they were sent to jail on judicial remand.
The next hearing of the case is on November 4.
Memon was escorted in an armoured vehicle from the NAB headquarters to the court.
Speaking to the media, Memon said, "If Capt (retd) Safdar can be given bail by a trial court then why can’t I [be given bail]".
He was referring to the son-in-law of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif who is undergoing corruption cases along with other Sharif family members.
On Monday, after being holed up for hours in the Sindh High Court following his bail dismissal in a corruption case. Memon was taken into custody by the NAB along with the other suspects.
The former minister was escorted from the court premises by Rangers and NAB personnel and was surrounded by his lawyers and other supporters. As he was leaving the court, resistance was offered by his supporters leading to an exchange of hot words with NAB officials.
Eleven other accused in the case were also arrested by the bureau.
"The accused persons are charged for embezzlement of Rs. 5,766,479,766 purportedly paid to seven advertising agencies for awareness campaigns between 2013 and 2015," said a press release by NAB.
Memon was attempting to avoid being arrested by NAB after the cancellation of his bail extension plea by the Sindh High court earlier on Monday.
The case
The suspects are accused of corruption worth Rs5.76 billion in the award of advertisements of the Sindh government’s awareness campaigns in the electronic media.
Memon, who returned to Pakistan in March this year after ending his near two-year-long self-imposed exile, was arrested on his arrival by NAB but later obtained bail.
The other accused in the case include bureaucrats, officials of the information department and members of private advertising agencies.
Memon claims the charges against him are politically motivated.
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