The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed a special court in Lahore that no money was “directly deposited” into the bank accounts of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in a Rs16 billion money laundering case.
On Tuesday, the court was told that PM Shehbaz could not appear due to official engagements and requested an exemption for a day. However, Hamza appeared in court.
Answering questions raised by the judge today, FIA’s prosecutor informed the court that Malik Maqsood – the deceased key figure in the money laundering case – had been operating eight bank accounts and that all details had been mentioned in the challan submitted before the court.
FIA’s prosecutor, Farooq Bajwa, further argued that the record shows that neither the amounts had ever been deposited nor withdrawn from PM Shehbaz Sharif or from his son Hamza’s bank accounts.
Hamza’s counsel argued that there is no allegation of kickbacks on the accused persons. He added that the investigation was carried out before the political situation changed and the statements were recorded on political bases.
Earlier this month, the FIA had given a clean chit to PM Shehbaz and Hamza Shehbaz in this case, saying there was no direct evidence against them in the case.
The case:
In 2021, FIA submitted a challan against Shehbaz and Hamza to the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering Rs16 billion in a sugar scam.
The report added that the amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and “given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity”.
At the time, FIA had said that the amount of Rs16 billion has nothing to do with the sugar business of Shehbaz’s family. The money allegedly received from the accounts of low-wage employees was transferred outside Pakistan, ultimately destined for the beneficial use of his family members.
