Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shahbaz, have lodged a petition to dismiss the charges in the ongoing money laundering case.
Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz’s legal counsel, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, submitted an appeal for acquittal in the Lahore accountability court on Wednesday. The appeal argues that the money laundering charges the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) levied are baseless fabrications. It asserts that all of its assets have been duly declared to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The petition outlines that NAB has not presented any substantive evidence that would validate the charges against Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz. It urges the court to dismiss the money laundering case, citing a lack of credible proof.
Case Details
The NAB had previously filed this case, alleging that Shehbaz Sharif and his family had been involved in money laundering and illicit fund transfers via phoney accounts.
In late 2020, the FIA presented a charge sheet against the two PML-N leaders, accusing them of laundering an estimated Rs16 billion in a case related to a sugar scam.
The investigative team purportedly identified 28 untitled accounts, reportedly used by the Shehbaz family for money laundering amounting to Rs16.3bn between 2008 and 2018. The team evaluated a money trail consisting of around 17,000 credit transactions.
In addition to Shehbaz and Hamza, the case also implicated Suleman Shehbaz, a fugitive in the UK, and 14 other individuals.
The report suggests that the laundered funds were kept in concealed accounts and personally allocated to Shehbaz.
