Money laundering case: Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz to be indicted on 18th

LAHORE: A Special Court is likely to frame charges against PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz on February 18 in Rs16bn alleged money-laundering case against them.

Both father-son duo appeared before the court and marked their attendance. The court has directed prosecution to provide copies of the challan to the accused and adjourned the hearing by February 18 to frame charges against the nominated accused in the case.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the challan submitted before the court had declared PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz as prime accused in Rs16 billion money-laundering scams through accounts of sugar mills and their employees. The FIA named 14 other accused in the case as well.

The FIA claimed that the father-son duo failed to provide a money trail of Rs16bn and declared them as the principal accused in the challan submitted before a banking court. As per the challan, the FIA declared Suleman Shehbaz as proclaimed offender in this case along with two other accused including Malik Maqsood Ahmad and Sayed Tahir Naqvi. As many as 100 prosecution witnesses will record their testimony in this case as prescribed in the challan.