FIA grills Hamza Shahbaz in money-laundering case

LAHORE: PML-N leader and Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz appeared before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in connection with its ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering of Rs25 billion through the sugar mills owned by the Sharif family.

A five-member probe team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) quizzed Hamza Shahbaz for about 40 minutes after he turned up at the agency’s Lahore office.

Also Read: FIA DECIDES TO SUMMON SHEHBAZ SHARIF AGAIN IN SUGAR SCAM: SOURCES

He appeared before the FIA team two days after his father, PML-N president and leader of the opposition in national assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s appearance before it in the same case. Both father-son duo have been accused of laundering Rs25 billion ill-gotten money using the Ramazan Sugar Mills and Al-Arabiya Sugar Mills.

On Tuesday, the investigation team had put as many as 20 questions to Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, out of which he could answer only four.

Also Read: Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz obtain pre-arrest bail before FIA appearance

It is worth mentioning that Shehbaz and Hamza obtained pre-arrest interim bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) to avoid their arrest at the hands of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) ahead of their hearing. The court approved their bail against surety bonds worth Rs1 million each.