- In the case, members of prime minister’s family were accused of illegally transferring unexplained wealth abroad
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has cleared Suleman Shehbaz of all charges in the highly publicised Rs16 billion money laundering case, claiming there was a lack of evidence against the prime minister’s son.
After four years in London in self-imposed exile, Shahbaz, one of the two sons of Shahbaz Sharif, returned home in December “to face investigation” in the case which began in 2018, his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said.
The scandal involving members of his family, previously the prime minister as well, is being probed by the agency while the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has nominated him in a separate wealth reference.
He had previously been declared a proclaimed offender in both investigations over his prolonged absence.
Shehbaz was represented by his lawyer Amjad Parvez in the hearing, which took place in Lahore’s special court. The agency, which comes under the interior ministry headed by a PML-N loyalist, submitted a challenge to the court, stating that after “months of investigation”, they were unable to find any evidence linking the suspect to the case.
As a result of its submission, Shehbaz and another co-accused, Tahir Naqvi, withdrew their bail applications.
The hearing has been adjourned until February 4.
This is not the first time that the Sharif family has been cleared of charges in this case. A special court in Lahore acquitted both Sharif and his elder son, Hamza Shehbaz, a few months ago.
The FIA had originally booked the three under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act back in November 2020.
THE CASE
The money laundering reference mainly accused Sharif of being a beneficiary of assets held in the name of his family members and benamidars, who had no sources to acquire such assets.
It said the members and benamidars of his family received fake foreign remittances of billions in their personal bank accounts. In addition to these remittances, the bureau said, billions of rupees were laundered by way of foreign pay orders, which were deposited in the personal bank accounts of Sharif’s two sons.
The reference further said the Sharif family failed to justify the sources of funds used for the acquisition of assets.
It claimed the suspects committed offences of corruption and corrupt practices as envisaged under the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, and money laundering as delineated in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
