PM, son seek acquittal in money laundering case

Claims NAB filed a false and fabricated reference against them

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, have moved motions in an accountability court for their acquittal in money laundering references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during the rule of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

In their applications filed through Amjad Pervaiz, Shehbaz and Hamza have contended that NAB filed a false and fabricated case and that the accountability watchdog has no evidence to prove the case.

They stated that they had declared all their assets—which were acquired through legal means—to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). They requested the accountability court to acquit them from the case.

On May 11, NAB submitted a supplementary report to Judge Qamar-ul-Zaman of an accountability court in Lahore, declaring that Shehbaz, his son Hamza and others were “innocent” in Rs7 billion references.

In August 2020, NAB had accused Shehbaz and his family members of engaging in money laundering and owning assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

NAB had claimed in references filed against the Shehbaz family that in the last 30 years, their assets had increased from Rs2 million to Rs7 billion which the family had failed to justify.

The accountability watchdog had alleged that accused Shehbaz, in connivance with his co-accused--family members, benamidars, front men, close associates, employees, and moneychangers--had developed an organised system of money laundering for the accumulation of assets.