In Rs14 billion money laundering case, a Pakistani court on Wednesday extended pre-arrest bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Punjab chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz, until May 14.
“On Wednesday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special court in Lahore accepted Shehbaz’s application for a one-day stay of execution.
The court, on the other hand, ordered the premier to file a response in the case, failing which it will begin indictment proceedings at the next hearing on May 14.” From 2008 to 2018, the FIA discovered 28 Benami accounts linked to the Shehbaz family, through which a total of 14 billion Pakistani rupees (USD 75 million) was laundered.
The FIA looked into the financial records of 17,000 credit transactions.
According to the charges, the money was kept in secret accounts and given to Shehbaz in his personal capacity. Meanwhile, the Punjab Governor, Omer Sarfaraz Cheema, was ordered by the Lahore High Court on Wednesday to complete the process of administering the oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz by April 28, either personally or through a nominee.
Shehbaz is also the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the country’s ruling party. In November 2020, the FIA charged Shehbaz and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, with violating various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Suleman has escaped justice and is currently residing in the United Kingdom. On April 16, Hamza was elected as the new chief minister.