A special court of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency issued an order saying that it will indict Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza in an Rs 14-billion money laundering case. “The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special court Lahore on Wednesday accepted Shehbaz’s application seeking exemption from personal appearance for one day. However, the court directed the premier to file a reply in the case otherwise it will initiate indictment proceedings on the next hearing on May 14,” a court official told PTI. However, Hamza Sharif appeared before the court.
The advocate of Shehbaz Sharif, Amjad Pervez was directed by the court to present arguments before the court on May 14 on his contention that his client can’t be indicted in this case.
Shehbaz and his sons – Hamza and Suleman – were booked by FIA in November 2020 under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti Money Laundering Act. Suleman is absconding and residing in the UK.
The FIA investigation has detected 28 benami accounts, allegedly of the Shehbaz family, through which an amount of 14 billion Pakistani Rupees ($75 million) was laundered from 2008 to 2018.
A trail of 17,000 credit transactions has been examined by the FIA. The amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and given to Shehbaz in his personal capacity, according to the charges. Close to Rs. 25 billion were credited to accounts of low-wage employees of Ramzan Sugar mills and accounts of fake companies set up and controlled by the Sharif group between 2008 and 2018.
Of this amount, 3.7 billion was received in the account of a peon named Malik Maqsood, and Rs. 2.8 billion in the account of Haji Naeem. The FIA has said that Shehbaz and Hamza failed to provide a money trail for over Rs 16 billion.
Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court on Wednesday directed Punjab Governor Omer Sarfaraz Cheema to ensure the completion of the process of administering the oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz by April 28, either doing so himself or through a nominee.
Hamza was elected chief minister on April 16. Hamza and his party blamed ousted prime minister Imran Khan for the delay in oath-taking.
--With PTI inputs
