Bail of PM Shehbaz, Hamza extended in money laundering case

The counsel representing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz concluded his arguments on the confirmation of their bails in the Rs16 billion money laundering case on Saturday.

Shehbaz and Hamza appeared before the Special Court Central-I amid tight security.

Advocate Amjad Pervez, the counsel for PM Shehbaz, argued that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had accused Muhammad Maqsood of making a huge transaction of over Rs3 billion, which according to records was only Rs5 million.

The counsel said that any other account except for the salary account of Maqsood was not on the letter pad of Ramzan Sugar Mills. He pointed out that 90 percent of transactions in his account were not made in cash but via transfer enteries, adding that no money was ever transferred to PM Shehbaz from Maqsood’s account.

“Not even a single account of Maqsood Chaprasi was used to transfer money to Shehbaz Sharif,” the lawyer argued, contending that by every aspect, the case did not have any connection with Shehbaz Sharif.

The lawyer submitted that the investigation officer had built the case while “sitting in a room”. He asked the court to set his clients free as they were not involved in corruption and the case registered against them was politically motivated.

He also informed the court that there were flaws in the FIA report. “In the FIR, they mentioned Rs25 billion corruption and in the challan they said it was Rs16 billion.

During the proceedings, the judge also observed “contradictions” in the FIA’s report about the arrest of Suleman Shehbaz, the son of PM Shehbaz, and other suspects.

“On one hand, the report says that D-41, Model Town, is not an address. On the other, it also says the suspect Suleman Shehbaz is abroad,” he observed.

FIA Special Prosecutor Farooq Bajwa responded that there was no such address and the accused was not found there.

“It is the fault of the person who wrote [the report]. He wanted to say the suspect was not present at that location,” he said.

“The routine details about Suleman Shehbaz and other suspect Tahir Naqvi were also missing,” the judge remarked, directing the FIA’s team to address the flaws and directed it to submit a fresh challan.

The judge observed that Ghulam Shabbir, another accused, had passed away and asked the FIA to inform the court about the scope of investigation involving Shabbir.

On it, the prosecutor said the suspect’s death certificate was one-year-old and the inquiry had begun before that. The prosecution sought time to submit details and filed a fresh report.

Advocate Amjad Pervez asked the court that it was the duty of the prosecution to prove the case and connection to benami accounts.

“The FIA could not establish Shehbaz’s connection with benami accounts even in ten years,” he said.

Later, the court extended interim bail of Shehbaz and Hamza till June 4.

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif took to the rostrum and reiterated his innocence, saying that the case against him was “false”.

“I refused to receive any salary or benefits when I was chief minister of Punjab,” he said.

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