Pakistan: Court Fails To Indict Shehbaz, Hamza In Money Laundering Case
Islamabad, May 14: A special court in Lahore was unable to frame charges in a money laundering case on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz as the premier was not present during the hearing, Express Tribune reported on Saturday.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is currently in London and apparently undergoing ‘medical treatment’. Shehbaz and his sons — Hamza and Suleman — were booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in November 2020 under Sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the PPC and 5(2) and 5(3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of Anti Money Laundering Act, along with 14 others who were named in the FIR under Sections 5(2) and 5(3) (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, read with 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Shehbaz and his sons have been accused of laundering money to the tune of a staggering Rs. 16 billion.
When the special judge was told about the prime ministers absence from the country he remarked that the premier should have changed the schedule of his foreign visit due to the nature of the case and added that “today’s proceeding was not a routine one”. He later scheduled the next hearing for May 21.
