— FIA team skips court, says agency bosses have ordered them against appearance
LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Monday deferred until April 27 the indictment of Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in a money-laundering case, paving way for graft-tainted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and deputy to become prime minister and Punjab chief minister.
Sharif and his family are facing charges of money laundering of billions of rupees using accounts operated in the name of their businesses and employees, according to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Special Court (Central-I) judge Ijaz Hassan Awan chaired the proceedings of the case wherein Sharif’s counsel submitted a petition to exempt the former Punjab chief minister from proceedings.
During the proceedings, the court said the suspects should be produced in order to frame charges and proceed with the case. Responding to the judge, an FIA prosecutor in the case, however, said the agency is yet to receive orders regarding the reference.
A special prosecution team probing the case skipped the proceedings and said the agency higher-ups have directed them against appearing in the court.
Meanwhile, the counsel of PML-N leaders, Amjad Pervaiz, said the interim bail awarded to Sharif and his son be extended.
“We should first analyse if the evidence submitted by the agency [in the case] could be used for indictment or not,” he said. “I am also going to perform Umrah so please extend the bail for a longer period.”
The judge asked Pervaiz to submit the request in writing.
Later, the court adjourned the case till April 27 and extended the PML-N leaders’ interim bails.
The 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 family members and benamidars of the Shehbaz 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 Hamza and his brother Suleman Shehbaz.
The reference further said that the family of Shehbaz failed to justify the sources of funds used for the acquisition of assets.
It said 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. It asked the trial court to try the suspects and punish them under the law.
