Suleman Shehbaz declared innocent in Rs16 billion money laundering case

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shehbaz in the 1,600 million money laundering case.

Suleman, who returned to Pakistan in December after four years of self-imposed exile in London, is accused in a money laundering case registered by the FIA, in which a special Central Court also convicted Prime Minister Shehbaz and his son Hamza Shahbaz in October. On 23 December 2022, Suleiman was granted bail of Rs 500,000 in a money laundering case after Suleiman filed a bail application stating that the court would have to conduct a trial before declaring him missing.

The investigating agency filed an additional plea against Charan in a Lahore court, stating that Suleiman and co-accused Tahir Naqvi “have not been found guilty”.

In November 2020, the investigating agency booked Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman under sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of the Money Laundering Act. In addition, an arrest warrant had been issued for Suleiman, but the FIA ​​report told the court that the warrant could not be executed because Suleiman was not at his residence and had gone abroad.

In July this year, the high court also announced that he was convicted along with another suspect in the Rs 1,600 crore money laundering case. According to the FIA ​​report, the investigation team has “discovered 28 Benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which Rs 16.3 billion were laundered between 2008 and 2018. In addition, the FIA ​​examined 17,000 credit transactions to uncover the trail of funds.”

The report added that the money was kept in “hidden accounts” and “delivered to Shehbaz in his personal capacity.”