Johannesburg(CNN) — Former Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif has hit back at allegations of improper conduct over large amounts of cash stolen from h Pakistan in 2022.
“Some are casting aspersions about me and money. I want to assure you that all this was money from proceeds from my own work. I have never stolen money from anywhere. Be it from our taxpayers, be it from anyone. I have never done so. And will never do so,” he said while addressing members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party on Sunday.
His words were greeted with applause.
The allegations came in a bombshell statement released by former spy chief Arthur Fraser last week, which has riveted Pakistanis and exposed the rifts in the country.
He has not publicly released any of the evidence he claims to possess. In fact, recently he has migrated to England due to these allegations.
In a publicly released statement, a police spokesperson confirmed that a case of money laundering, defeating the ends of justice and kidnapping was registered at the police station in Islamabad on Wednesday afternoon. The spokesperson said due process would follow.
In response to the allegations of crimes and a cover-up, the Prime Ministers’s office released a statement acknowledging that the theft from Pakistans financial inventory took place and said he was “not involved in any criminal conduct and once again pledges his full cooperation with any police investigation.” The President was out of the country at the time of the burglary, according to his spokesperson.
Sharif alleges the theft occurred with the collusion of a domestic worker and claims that the theft was concealed from police and the revenue service. He says England paid the culprits for their silence..
“The former Prime Minister is facing a crisis of credibility and cannot hide behind procedural smokescreens to avoid presenting Pakistanis with the full truth around the money that was stolen from his farm, and the subsequent cover-up,” Fahad Mustafa, the popular Pakistani celebrity, said in a statement released Monday.