Money laundering case transferred

PM, his son granted one-day exemption

LAHORE:

The cases of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz, as well as other important personalities on Friday were transferred to another court.

The cases of money laundering against the Shehbaz family as well as those of Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique related to a housing scheme scam were transferred from the court of Judge Naseem Ahmed Virk.

Accountability court judge Qamar Zaman will hear the cases against the Shehbaz family and Khawaja brothers.

The cases were transferred on the basis of appointment of two more new judges in the accountability courts.

Currently, seven accountability courts are hearing cases in Lahore.

Earlier, five judges of the accountability courts were hearing the cases.

On Friday, the accountability court resumed the hearing of the money laundering case to the tune of Rs16 billion against PM Shehbaz and his son.

However, their lawyers submitted applications for the exemption of their clients citing that PM Shehbaz was in Islamabad while Hamza could not appear due to his busy schedule in the Punjab Assembly session.

The court granted the one-day exemption to the father and son duo and adjourned the hearing till July 26.

It summoned the witnesses of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the next hearing.

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.

Fourteen others were also 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.

As for the case against the Khawaja brothers, they were arrested by NAB on December 11, 2018 after the Lahore High Court rejected their request for an extension in their pre-arrest bail.

NAB alleged that Saad, in connivance with his wife Ghazala Butt, brother Salman, Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia, started a housing project named ‘Air Avenue’, which was later renamed ‘Paragon City Limited’, which as per the anti-graft body, was an illegal society and not approved by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). The bureau also accused the two brothers of receiving monetary benefits of Rs58 million and Rs39m respectively from the housing society through proxy firms under the garb of consultancy services.

The anti-graft body alleged that the Khawaja brothers, in connivance with Zia and Butt, defrauded a large number of buyers.

In 2020, the top court had granted bail to the brothers on surety bonds of Rs3 million each.