Court extends interim bails of Shahbaz, Hamza in money laundering case

• PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz appear before the banking court in the money laundering case today.
• The officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) share evidence with the court against the duo in five cases.
• Shahbaz Sharif says FIA officials misbehave with him during investigation.

LAHORE: A banking court in Lahore on Saturday extended the interim bails of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz, in the money laundering case till October 9.

Shahbaz Sharif along with his son Hamza Shahbaz appeared before the banking court today.

During the course of the proceeding, the officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) shared evidence with the court against the duo in five cases.

“A sugar commission that was formed in 2020 found that the sugar mill (Ramzan Sugar Mills) was involved in fraud,” FIA’s senior officer Dr Rizwan told the court. He said that bank accounts were opened by using the names of poor people, he apprised the court.

The FIA official said that they have traced 57 such bank accounts on the names of 20 employees of the sugar mill, adding that they were probing 55,498 suspicious transactions.

When the judge asked that how much time would they take to complete their investigations, the FIA officer said that currently, they were not in the position to submit the challan in the case, as the suspects were not cooperating with them. He further said, “It is not an ordinary case.”

“The FIA’s senior official was telling a lie in the court,” Shahbaz Sharif apprised the court when the judge called him to the rostrum.

He said,” Neither I am the director of the sugar mill nor I receive the salary from it.”

The PML-N president said that FIA officials misbehaved with him when he was summoned.

Meanwhile, FIA’s lawyer told the court the fake bank accounts were opened in collaboration with two officers of a private bank. He said that the banks were also not cooperating with them. The lawyer pleaded with the court to order the banks and the suspects to cooperate with FIA in its investigations in the money laundering case.

On the occasion, Shahbaz Sharif pleaded with the court to allow him to speak but the judge rejected his request, saying that they have listened to him. Later, he rejected the lawyer’s allegations.