Case against Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz not withdrawn, FIA explains

Explaining this, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that it was not decided to stop the trial of money laundering case filed agains...

Explaining this, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that it was not decided to stop the trial of money laundering case filed against Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz.

 

In an explanatory statement released on the social networking site Twitter, the FIA ​​spokesman said, "There is a fake news in the media that the case against the leaders of a political party in Lahore has been withdrawn. The FIA ​​has registered a case." 

Read more: Money laundering case: FIA decides not to hold trial against Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz

The statement said, "The case has not been withdrawn. The trial is on. The next hearing is on May 15, 2022."

"This is fake news. The FIA can take legal action against those involved in spreading this fake news," the FIA said.

"In fact, on April 11, 2022, the prosecutor in the case filed a petition in the court based on the opinion of the prosecutor regarding the change of prosecutor, where he was instructed not to appear by the prosecution," the statement said.

Referring to the prosecutor, he said, "They had applied through the then DG FI and the investigating officer. They were allegedly asked not to appear as prosecutors. The request was to withdraw the case." There was no case.

The federal agency said that on April 11, Sanaullah Abbasi was the DG FIA at the time and the new prime minister had not been sworn in at the time of submission of the petition.

He said that Tahir-ul-Qadri was appointed as DG FIA on April 22, 2022. This was before he joined the FIA.

The spokesman said that the issue of changing the prosecutor was a normal part of the previous government as well. In this case, the prosecutor was changed several times.

Read also: Money laundering case: Shahbaz Sharif seeks court on April 4 at FIA request

The federal agency said in a statement that it did not want to spread fake news in the case.

Earlier, there were reports that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had arrested Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz in a Rs 16 billion money laundering case by a special court in Lahore. It has decided not to hold a trial against the PML-N leaders.

It was reported that the Director General (DG) of the FIA, in a written application submitted to the court, through the investigating officer, asked Special Prosecutor Sikandar Zulqarnain Saleem not to appear in the court as the accused in this case are Pakistanis. Is the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Punjab.

Money laundering case

Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz are facing money laundering case in the sugar scandal. The FIA ​​had registered a case against them in November 2020 under the provisions of Pakistan Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Shahbaz Sharif is accused of helping his sons Hamza Shahbaz and Suleiman Shahbaz to amass wealth through unknown sources of income.

The FIA ​​had filed a money laundering challan of Rs 16 billion against Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz and other accused in the banking court on December 13, 2021 and named Days as the main accused.

Read also: Money Laundering Reference: Shahbaz Sharif has never been director of Ramzan Sugar Mill, NAB witness

The 7-volume challan submitted by the FIA ​​consists of more than 4,000 pages in which a list of 100 witnesses was also submitted and it was said that 100 witnesses would appear against the accused.

The challan said that the investigation team traced 28 anonymous bank accounts which were set up in different banks of Lahore and Chiniot in the names of clerks and clerks of Shahbaz Sharif family from 2008 to 2018.

According to the FIA, the money trail of Rs 16 billion, more than 17,000 credit transactions was analyzed in 28 anonymous accounts and huge amount of money was hidden in those accounts which are completely unrelated to the sugar business. Including which was personally offered to Shahbaz Sharif.

Read more: Money laundering case: Shahbaz Sharif decides to charge Hamza Shahbaz on February 18

The challan said that earlier Shahbaz Sharif (Punjab Chief Minister 1998) was directly involved in money laundering of more than US 50 5 million. Named with the help of the then Federal Minister Ishaq Dar.

The FIA ​​had said that the challan named Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz and Suleiman Shahbaz as the main accused while 14 unnamed account holders and six facilitators were named as co-accused on the basis of aiding and abetting crime.

The challan said that both Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz had been holding public office from 2008 to 2018.