LAHORE: The accountability court Lahore on Thursday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son, Hamza Shahbaz wife Nusrat Shehbaz in the Rs8 billion money laundering reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau.
Accountability Court Judge Qamaruz Zaman announced the verdict, reserved earlier while a written order in the case is yet to be issued.
Not only the Prime Minister and his son, but also Nusrat Shehbaz (PM’s wife), Javeria Ali (PM’s daughter), Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Shoaib Qamar, Qasim Qayyum, Rashid Karamat, Ali Ahmed, and Nisar Ahmed were acquitted. However, a perpetual arrest warrant was issued for PM Shehbaz’s daughter, Rabia Imran, who was declared an absconder in the case.
The court also issued instructions to unfreeze the properties of all of the acquitted individuals.
The family expressed their belief that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) failed to produce any evidence against them.
Subsequently, NAB investigators confirmed the lack of evidence. In the court’s verdict, which had been reserved earlier this month, it was stated that there was no other choice but to acquit the accused, as NAB had explicitly stated the absence of evidence against them.
The reference was filed by the anti-graft watchdog in August 2020, during Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as the opposition leader in the National Assembly. He was arrested by NAB after the Lahore High Court denied his bail on September 29.
Previously, the court had declared PM Shehbaz’s son Suleman, daughter Rabia Imran and son-in-law Haroon Yousaf, as absconders for avoiding their appearance in the case’s trial proceedings.
Suleman and Yousaf ended their self-exile last year and returned to the country after securing protective bail from the courts.
The case
In August 2020, NAB filed an Rs8 billion reference of money laundering against Shehbaz — who was the opposition leader at the time — his two sons and other family members.
In this reference, NAB alleged that the family members and benamidars of PM Shehbaz 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 his sons, Hamza and Suleman.
PM Shehbaz, his elder son Hamza, and daughter Javeria Ali were indicted in the reference besides other accused persons including Fazal Dad Abbasi, Rashid Karamat, Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Nisar Ahmad, Shoaib Qamar and Qasim Qayum.
Shehbaz’s wife Nusrat was also indicted through a pleader as she was still out of the country.
NAB arrested PM Shehbaz on Sept 28, 2020, after the Lahore High Court (LHC) refused to further extend his pre-arrest bail. He remained in the NAB’s custody for 23 days till the trial court sent him on judicial remand on Oct 20, 2020.
An LHC full bench released PM Shehbaz on bail in April 2021 and observed that the former chief minister of Punjab faced no allegation of receiving kickbacks or ill-gotten money.
A special court in October 2022 had also acquitted PM Shehbaz and Hamza in the Rs16 billion money laundering case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Allowing their acquittal applications, the court had observed that there was no probability of conviction even if the prosecution evidence collected during the investigation was recorded.
In February last, the FIA also gave a clean chit to Suleman in the money laundering case.
The agency told the trial court that it found no evidence to establish the charges of committing money laundering and receiving kickbacks against Suleman.
