LAHORE
\nFederal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor has said that the investigation agency wanted to arrest Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz to for the investigation of Rs16 billion money laundering case.
\nPM Shehbaz and CM Hamza appeared before the special court in Lahore under strict security. All the roads leading to the accountability court were blocked.
\nPunjab Police, Anti-Riot Force, and security personnel in plain clothes were deployed outside the court.
\nHamza\u2019s counsel, Amjad Pervez, in his arguments for the confirmation of bail in the case filed against him and his family by the FIA, said the investigation has been going on for one and half years, yet the agency could not bring any evidence on record.
\n\u201cThe worst political engineering was done against the political opponents which were also \u2019declared a reality by the Lahore High Court,\u201d he added.
\nAmjad maintained that the \u201cprevious government used state machinery\u201d to suppress opposition leaders.
\nThe counsel highlighted that the FIA had interrogated the two leaders when both of them were in jail.
\nDuring the hearing, the judge asked whether the FIA wanted the arrest Shehbaz and Hamza, to which the FIA lawyer responded that \u201cthe arrest of both the accused is required\u201d as they were not included in the investigation.
\nPM Shehbaz urged the court to let him present his \u201cown arguments\u201d in the Ramzan Sugar Mill case. \u201cWe\u2019ve given you a chance earlier too,\u201d the judge responded.
\n\u201cI would like to request the court for another opportunity. I want to say something,\u201d the PM said.
\nAs Amjad Pervaiz started presenting his arguments for the confirmation of bail in the money laundering case against Shehbaz and his family by FIA, the father-son duo left the court.
\nThe court, on the other hand, has ordered CCPO Lahore to submit a detailed investigation report of the case and summoned the witnesses for cross-examination on the next hearing.
\nPM Shehbaz\u2019s lawyer requested the court to exempt the prime minister from appearing in the court in person.
\nThe court has also called for the records of Ashiana Housing Society and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases on the next hearing on June 20.
\nThe interim bail of PM Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza has been extended and the hearing was adjourned till June 11. However, the presiding judge issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Suleman Shahbaz, and two others in the case, as they were not present.
\nIn December last year, the FIA had submitted a challan against the two PML-N leaders before the court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in the sugar scam case.
\nThe investigation team has \u201cdetected 28 Benami [untitled] accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008 to 2018\u201d. It examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions.
\nShehbaz and Hamza were booked in the case along with Suleman Shehbaz, who was absconding in the United Kingdom. 14 other people were also named in the FIR.
\nThe report revealed that the amount was kept under \u201chidden accounts\u201d which were given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity. \u201cThe amount has nothing to do with the sugar business [of the family]. It was received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz and was transferred outside Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAHORE Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor has said that the investigation agency wanted to arrest Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz to for the investigation of Rs16 billion money laundering case. PM Shehbaz and CM Hamza appeared before the special court in Lahore under strict security. All the roads leading to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1782,1635,3418,5822],"class_list":{"0":"post-264538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-fia","9":"tag-hamza-shehbaz","10":"tag-money-laundering-case","11":"tag-pm-shehbaz-sharif"},"yoast_head":"\n