PM may be indicted in money laundering case on May 1

A special court judge in Lahore on Wednesday announced that he would indict Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Punjab CM-elect Hamza and others in the Rs16 billion money laundering case on May 14.

The written order read that it was being made clear that charges would be framed on the next date of hearing and all the suspects should ensure their personal attendance.

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. Suleman is absconding and residing in the UK.

Fourteen others have been 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.

However, the judge accepted the application of PM Shehbaz seeking exemption from personal appearance before the court on Wednesday because of the cabinet committee’s meeting on various issues.

The judge was hearing pre-arrest bail pleas of PM Shehbaz and Punjab CM-elect Hamza.

It is also worth mentioning that this was the second application submitted before the court on behalf of the premier seeking exemption from personal appearance.

The first application was submitted in previous proceedings on a plea that Shehbaz could not come owing to the contest for the PM’s slot.

Read: Uncertainty looms over cases against Shehbaz

As the proceedings commenced, the counsel for the premier submitted the application before the court contending PM Shehbaz was busy in Islamabad where he had to chair a meeting.

Presiding Judge of the Special Court (Central-I) Ijaz Hassan Awan remarked that the accused could not be indicted due to the absence of the prime minister, who had requested an exemption from appearance because of a meeting of the federal cabinet.

The court approved PM Shehbaz's request, adding that there would be no further adjournments in the case.

In December last year, the FIA had submitted a challan against the Shehbaz and Hamza to a special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in a sugar scam case.

“The investigation team has 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 agency's report had read.

The amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity, the report had added.

The FIA had alleged that this amount of Rs16 billion had nothing to do with the sugar business of the Shehbaz family.

“The money received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz was transferred outside Pakistan via hundi/hawala networks, ultimately destined for beneficial use of his family members.”

The agency had claimed that 11 low-paid employees of the Sharif group -- who ‘held and possessed’ the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused -- were found guilty of facilitating money laundering.

“The three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering.