Lahore special court acquits father-son duo after FIA fails to produce \u2018concrete evidence\u2019
\nNews Agency
\nLAHORE
\nThe Special Court, Central, Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz in the Rs16 billion money laundering case lodged against them by the Federal Investigation Agency. The court announced its judgment in the mega money laundering case against the Shehbaz family after the FIA prosecutor informed the court that no money was directly deposited in the accounts of the father-son duo.
\nThe father-son duo \u2014 who were summoned today \u2014 did not appear before the court as their counsel filed a request for exemption as PM Shehbaz had official engagements and Hamza was not well.
\nThe court acquitted the prime minister and his son after the FIA \u2014 last week \u2014 had cleared the PML-N leaders on the charges of laundering Rs16 billion as there was \u201cno direct evidence\u201d against the father-son duo. During today\u2019s hearing, FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa opposed acquitting the suspects, saying that Hamza and Shehbaz are allegedly involved in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.
\n\u201cWe want this case to proceed. The case should go on till the suspects have been indicted,\u201d the prosecutor urged. However, Special Court Judge Ejaz Awan noted that the FIA has failed to produce \u201cconcrete evidence\u201d in the challan submitted before the court against the suspects. Following this, the court acquitted the suspects. In the previous hearing on Tuesday, the judge asked about the number of bank accounts owned by the Malik Maqsood \u2014 also known as Maqsood Chaprasi.
\nThe FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa responded that late Maqsood had eight bank accounts to his name.
\nThe prosecutor further stated that no money was either directly deposited or withdrawn from the accounts of the suspects, including Shehbaz and Hamza. The judge asked what evidence was there to substantiate that the entire money dealing was being done at Hamza\u2019s behest. In response, FIA\u2019s prosecutor said the agency does not have \u201cany evidence\u201d linking him to money laundering.
\n\u2018Fake, baseless, based on political vengeance\u2019
\nAfter the verdict\u2019s announcement, the prime minister thanked God for his acquittal and termed the case against him \u201cfake, baseless, and based on political vengeance\u201d.
\n\u201cNo matter how much I thank God enough for this, it won\u2019t be enough,\u201d he said in a tweet.<\/p>\n
PM Shehbaz said that \u201cdespite the worst practices, use of state force, and holding institutions hostage,\u201d he still triumphed.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the former chief minister said the verdict marks the victory of \u201ctruth, righteousness, and honesty\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this politically motivated case, I was kept behind bars for almost 22 months, but despite that, we fought the case vigorously,\u201d Hamza said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nation\u2019s money was wasted, and the reputation of institutions was also damaged due to the cases lodged on Imran Khan\u2019s directions,\u201d the PML-N leader said.<\/p>\n
Hamza said that before Pakistani courts, the United Kingdom\u2019s National Crime Agency also gave a clean chit to PM Shehbaz.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe actual money launderer is Imran Niazi, who received funds through a \u2018tea boy\u2019. He is a certified foreign-funded [politician], who will now have to face the courts,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Felicitating PM Shehbaz and Hamza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ata Tarar said that with this verdict the \u201cnarrative of vindictive accountability of the Imran-era has been buried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is [Khan\u2019s former aide on accountability] Shahzad Akbar?\u201d he questioned during a press conference.<\/p>\n
PML-N MPA Hina Pervaiz Butt said another case \u201cproved to be just a political vendetta against the Sharif family\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo amount of lies can stop the naked flood of Truth. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz stand vindicated […] Remember Sharifs can\u2019t be intimidated and can\u2019t be bowed down,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The case
\nIn December 2021, the FIA had submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza before the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in the sugar scam case.<\/p>\n
According to the FIA report submitted to the court, the investigation team has \u201cdetected 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report added that the amount was kept in \u201chidden accounts\u201d and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity.<\/p>\n
This amount (Rs16 billion) has nothing to do with the sugar business (of the Shehbaz family), it claimed. <\/p>\n
The money received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz was transferred outside Pakistan via hundi\/hawala networks, ultimately destined for the beneficial use of his family members, the FIA had alleged.<\/p>\n
\u201cEleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group who \u2018held and possessed\u2019 the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused, are found guilty of facilitating money laundering,\u201d the agency had said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering,\u201d it had added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lahore special court acquits father-son duo after FIA fails to produce \u2018concrete evidence\u2019 News Agency LAHORE The Special Court, Central, Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz in the Rs16 billion money laundering case lodged against them by the Federal Investigation Agency. The court announced its judgment in the mega money […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-288836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n