Govt orders fresh probe into Hudaibiya Paper Mills case

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that the government has decided to hold a fresh investigation into the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case, ARY News reported.

The decision to the effect was taken during a detailed briefing given to Prime Minister Imran Khan by his legal team about the cases against PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

Taking to Twitter, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif were the main accused in the Hudaibiya case.

حدیبیہ کا مقدمہ شریف خاندان کی کرپشن کا سب سے اہم سرا ہے، اس مقدمے میں شہباز شریف اور نواز شریف مرکزی ملزم کی حیثئیت رکھتے ہیں، جو طریقہ حدیبیہ میں پیسے باہر بھیجنے کیلئے استعمال ہوا اسی کو بعد میں ہر کیس میں اپنایا گیا۔ اس لئے اس کیس کو انجام تک پہنچانا از حد اہم ہے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 10, 2021

Hudaibiya Paper Mills needed a fresh investigation and in this regard, the concerned agencies are being asked to reopen the investigation, said Chaudhry.

The method adopted in laundering money through the Hudaibiya Paper Mills was later adopted in every case, and it is very important to bring this case to an end, he said.

Hudaibiya Paper Mills case

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, late Shamim Akhtar, mother of Nawaz, Shehbaz and late Abbas Sharif, Maryam Safdar, Hussain Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz, Hudaibiya Paper Mills Ltd, the federal government and others were named as respondents in the appeal.

According to the Hudaibiya reference, the Sharif family had been accused of setting up Hudaibiya Paper Mills Ltd to launder illegal money.

A joint investigation team set up to investigate the Sharif family’s offshore properties had recommended in its report that the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case should be investigated afresh.

Subsequently, a Supreme Court bench hearing the Panama Papers case had asked the bureau to reopen the case.

The Musharraf government had launched an investigation against the Sharif family members back in 2000 for their alleged involvement in money laundering.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is a close aide and relative of the Sharifs, had given a confessional statement before a magistrate, alleging that Sharif brothers used the Hudaibiya Paper Mills as cover for money laundering during late 1990s.

Dar later retracted his statement and claimed that the statement was gleaned under duress.