Money-laundering case: Shehbaz, Hamza file acquittal pleas

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz on Wednesday filed acquittal pleas in a Rs16 billion money-laundering case. The indictment of the duo was due on Wednesday, but it was delayed again as the prime minister didn’t appear before the court. However, Hamza appeared before the court and marked his attendance.

As the hearing commenced, an application was moved by the counsel of Shehbaz, seeking his one-time exemption from personal appearance as he was busy handling the flood victims. The judge inquired from the counsel: “Can’t he (Shehbaz) appear in the court for 10 minutes? This case has been scheduled after a month. It is not ongoing on a daily basis.” The judge observed that sparing 10 minutes for the hearing was not so difficult. However, he granted an exemption to the premier.

The counsel of Shehbaz and Hamza also moved acquittal applications before the court, arguing that the case against his clients was politically-motivated and there was no chance of conviction. On this, the court sought a reply from the Federal Investigation Agency by September 20. The counsel further informed the court that the accounts of his clients had been frozen on court orders. He requested the court to unfreeze the accounts.

The FIA prosecutor, in response, said the FIA had no objection to unfreezing the accounts. The FIA, in its challan, had claimed that the duo failed to provide a money trail of Rs16 billion and declared them the principal accused. As per the challan, the FIA declared Suleman Shehbaz a proclaimed offender in this case, along with two other accused, Malik Maqsood Ahmad and Syed Tahir Naqvi. One hundred prosecution witnesses would record their testimony in this case as prescribed in the challan.

The FIA booked Shehbaz, Hamza and Suleman in November 2020 under sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and R/W 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.