By Kiran Butt
LAHORE, Pakistan (AA) – A local court in Pakistan on Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in a money laundering case brought by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
After hearing the money laundering case against Sharif and his son Hamza, Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan of the Special Court Central in Lahore city announced the verdict in front of the prime minister's legal team, who had earlier during the hearing requested a one-day attendance exemption.
While Sulaiman Shahbaz, another prime minister's son who was also nominated in the case, is currently in London, and the court had declared him an absconder due to his continuous absence from hearings.
After investigating the case of money laundering of 16 billion Pakistani rupees (approximately $73.4 million) through 28 bank accounts without the names of account holders while investigating their Ramadan Sugar Mills, the FIA registered a case against them under the Anti-Corruption Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act in Nov. 2020.
In this case, 14 other people were also nominated.
Earlier in the hearing, Sharif's lawyer, Amjad Pervez, stated that the FIA brought this case with malice because no money was transferred into Sharif and his son's accounts.
The prosecution is required by law to prove its case, the prosecutor argued, adding that the prosecution has not presented any evidence.
The FIA told the court at the previous hearing on Oct. 8 that the money was not directly transferred to the bank accounts of Sharif and Hamza.