No money laundering done through PM Shehbaz, Hamza's accounts: FIA

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor on Tuesday, during a special court hearing, argued in favour of expelling the impression that there was any direct allegation against Prime Minister Shehbaz and his son, former Punjab chief minister Hamza Shahbaz, which could establish their guilt in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.

A special central court judge heard the money laundering case against the aforesaid and other accused persons.

The judge fixed October 12 for further arguments on Hamza Shahbaz’s acquittal application. The arguments on PM Shehbaz Sharif’s acquittal application had been completed in previous proceedings.

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Earlier this month, the FIA had given a clean chit to PM Shehbaz and Hamza Shehbaz, on the charges of money laundering to the tune of Rs16 billion, saying there was no direct evidence against them in the case.

Answering the questions raised by the judge today, the FIA’s prosecutor informed the court that Malik Maqsood – the deceased key figure in the money laundering case – had been operating eight bank accounts and that all the details had been mentioned in the challan submitted before the court.

FIA’s prosecutor, Farooq Bajwa, further argued that the record shows that neither the amounts had ever been deposited nor withdrawn from PM Shehbaz Sharif or from his son Hamza’s bank accounts.

Hamza’s counsel argued that there is no allegation of kickbacks on the accused persons. The FIA had excluded bankers from this case and neither are the bankers' witnesses nor the accused. He added that the investigation was carried out before the political regime changed and the statements were recorded on political bases.

The entire investigation was carried out by the investigators of the previous government, he argued, adding that no witnesses had taken the name of Shehbaz or Hamza.

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“I will leave the court and stop the arguments if even a single statement is brought before this court,” advocate Amjad Pervez stated.

What is the evidence that the transactions were made at the direction of Hamza Shahbaz, the judge asked the FIA’s prosecutor, who responded that there was no evidence that could establish it.

Advocate Pervez argued that those whose accounts were opened had claimed that they were unaware of how the amounts had been deposited in their accounts. The FIA’s prosecutor argued that those who had the bank accounts had accepted their accounts.

The judge also asked the prosecutor to provide the facts he was stating in "black and white", to which he said he had "no instructions to do so" but would be willing to assist the court with material available on record.

Meanwhile, the judge also accepted the application filed on behalf of PM Shehbaz Sharif seeking exemption from personal appearance owing to some engagements.

It may be noted that the FIA had registered a case against then-opposition leader Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman in November 2020 under Sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

In December 2021, the agency submitted a challan against Shehbaz and Hamza over their alleged involvement in an Rs16 billion money laundering case.

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The FIA’s report released 28 Benami accounts of the Shehbaz family. They were detected by an investigation team. Through these accounts. money laundering of R16.3 billion was committed during 2008-18.

The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions. The report added up that the amount was kept in hidden accounts and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity.

The FIA had alleged that the money received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz had been transferred outside Pakistan to his family through the illegal practice of hundi.

Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif family were found guilty of facilitating this alleged money laundering.