Pakistan: Special court to indict PM Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza on Sept 7 in money laundering case

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) booked PM Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman in November 2021 under sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of the Anti Money Laundering Act. Suleman Shehbaz is absconding in the UK.

During the hearing on Saturday, property details of Suleman, who has already been declared a proclaimed offender in the multi-billion-rupee money laundering case, were submitted in the court.

In December 2021, the FIA had submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza before the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in the sugar scam case, in which it was declared by the investigation team that it had "detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008-18. The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions."

The report added that the amount was kept in "hidden accounts" and "given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity".

This amount (Rs16 billion) has nothing to do with the sugar business (of Shehbaz family), it claimed. The money received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz was transferred outside Pakistan via hundi/hawala networks, ultimately destined for the beneficial use of his family members, the FIA had alleged.

(With UNI inputs)