LAHORE: In a major development in the money laundering case against Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has submitted a supplementary report declaring the father-son duo as “innocent”.
The report was submitted to the accountability court and was presented during the hearing conducted by Accountability Court judge Qamar-ul-Zaman.
The report, which was submitted on Monday, revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shehbaz, and others have been acquitted of all charges.
During the hearing, Shehbaz Sharif’s representative Anwar Hussain appeared in the court and completed his appearance.
The court adjourned further hearing of the case till May 24.
The case was filed by NAB, which alleged that Shehbaz Sharif and his family members were involved in money laundering and illegal transfer of funds through fake accounts.
In December 2020, the FIA had submitted a challan against the two PML-N leaders before the court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in the sugar scam case.
The investigation team has “detected 28 Benami [untitled] accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008 to 2018”. It examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions.
Shehbaz and Hamza were booked in the case along with Suleman Shehbaz, who was absconding in the United Kingdom. 14 other people were also named in the FIR.
The report revealed that the amount was kept under “hidden accounts” which were given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity.
The Sharif family has consistently denied any involvement in money laundering or other illegal financial activities. They have maintained that the case against them is politically motivated and an attempt to discredit their reputation and influence in the country.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son, Suleman Shehbaz, stating that the agency found ‘no evidence of his involvement in the money laundering case’.
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