Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza acquitted in money laundering case

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz have been acquitted in money laundering case, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The judge of the special court Central-I Ijaz Hassan Awan announced the verdict related to the acquittal of Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz in the money laundering case.

The court issued a short order today while a written verdict will be given on Thursday (tomorrow). It is important to mention here that both accused, Shehbaz and Hamza, were not indicted and acquitted in the case today.

The special court Central-I judge Ijaz Hassan Awan reserved the verdict at 1:30 after listening to the arguments from both sides in the money laundering case. The accused had filed acquittal pleas to the court in the case.

READ: MONEY LAUNDERING: COURT EXEMPTS PM SHEHBAZ SHARIF FROM APPEARANCE

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has failed to present solid evidence before the court during the proceedings and accepted the previous team did not hold records of the case to prove Shehbaz and Hamza received or withdrawn the laundered money.

In November 2020, the FIA had lodged the First Information Report (FIR) against Shehbaz and Hamza for alleged Rs25 money laundering. Later in July 2021, the accused secured interim bail from a banking court. The case was later shifted to the special court Central-I.

In March 2022, the charge sheet of the money laundering case was submitted in which the amount of laundered money was reduced from Rs25 billion to Rs16 billion, whereas, the names of 100 witnesses were presented to the concerned court.

READ: PM SHEHBAZ SHARIF APPEARS BEFORE COURT IN MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

The agency also stated that the suspicious transactions worth Rs4 billion were related to secret sugar trading in which Suleman Shehbaz was nominated as the prime suspect and declared proclaimed offender. The defence lawyers apprised the court that Suleman will face the trial after returning to Pakistan.

During the proceedings, the defence lawyers insisted that the money was not transferred or received in Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz’s accounts nor withdrew it.

It is pertinent to mention here that the three accused in the money laundering case Suleman Shehbaz, Tahir Naqvi and Malik Maqsood alias Maqsood Chaprasi were declared absconders.

Among the accused, Gulzar Ahmed of Hasilpur died in October 2020 and Malik Maqsood died in June 2022, whereas, former FIA Lahore director and the head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) Dr Rizwan also passed away in May this year.