LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday acquitted five co-suspects in the corruption reference of Punjab Power Development Company Limited (PPDCL) against daughter and son-in-law of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

The co-suspects included Samina Ikram, wife of prime suspect, and former chief financial officer of the PPDCL Ikram Naveed, his sons Ahsan and Farjad, brother in-law Umar Shamshad and Usman Khan, auditor.

Prime suspect Ikram Naveed has already been released following a plea bargain with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). “Loss to the state has already been recovered. On the basis of evidence of the prosecution, there is no probability of conviction of accused as no incriminating material is available against them to connect them with the commission of offence,” the court said in its written order.

Ikram Naveed was accused of misusing his authority and transferring misappropriated millions of rupees into the bank accounts of the co-suspects. The suspects pleaded through counsel that the principal suspect had already been released on the basis of plea bargain.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022