Suleman Shahbaz acquitted in money laundering case
- By Web Desk -
- Jan 26, 2023
LAHORE: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shahbaz in a multi-billion rupees money laundering case, ARY News reported.
According to the details, FIA submitted the supplementary challan in the multi-billion rupee money laundering case in the Special Central Court and removed Suleman Shahbaz and Tahir Naqvi from the list of accused in the money laundering case.
The FIA, in its challan, stated that it was not proved that Suleman Shehbaz was the anonymous bearer of any public representative, adding that the prosecutor failed to produce any evidence of money laundering and illegal transactions against an accused bank account.
The FIA stated that the recorded statements of the persons who deposited the funds do not allege any kickbacks or commissions were given in the deposited funds. While no criminal evidence was found against the accused.
The report stated that the transactions were made from the bank account of Malik Maqsood for business purposes, which did not fall under criminal activity.
Suleman, who returned to Pakistan last year in December after four years of self-exile in London, was an accused in the Rs16 billion money laundering case registered with the FIA, in which the special court, central had also acquitted PM Shehbaz and his son Hamza Shahbaz last October.
Prior to his return, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had restrained FIA and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) — with which Suleman is booked in an assets beyond means case — from arresting him.
Later, a special court in Lahore granted interim bail to Suleman in the money laundering case on December 23 against bail bonds worth Rs100,000 after he filed a bail plea stating that the court needed to fulfil legal procedures before declaring him an absconder.